Starlight Revised
by She's a Riot
Summary: Full Summary Inside After the ultimate betrayal of her family at the Department of Mysteries, Arabella Malfoy is sent into hiding in Forks, WA under a vow not to perform magic until her return to wizarding Britain. Meanwhile Draco...
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Well here it is! The first installation of the revised Starlight! I would like to thank all of my returning readers for being so wonderfully patient with me, hopefully this revision will make up for all the time I've been away! And for those out there who are just beginning on this new leg of the journey, I'd like to thank you for giving my story a try! Unfortunately before we can move on there are a few key points that need addressing:

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable characters, settings, and events from the Twilight and Harry Potter books and/or movies. Those rights belong to Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling.

**Summary: **After the ultimate betrayal of her family at the Department of Mysteries, Arabella Malfoy is sent into hiding in Forks, WA under a vow not to perform magic until her return to wizarding Britain. Meanwhile Draco, distraught over the disappearance of his sister, must struggle to find a way to protect her from a Lord he had no interest in serving. Bella/Edward, Draco/Blaise

**Warning: **This story is rated M for a reason. Violence, Sex (both slash and het), character death and torture will all appear to some extent. If any of these are sensitive subjects, I do not recommend this story to you. There are plenty of T rated fics to browse. All I ask is that you keep this in mind.

Prologue

The air was getting chilly again as it always did at this time of year in England. A dog barked from a nearby yard and wind chimes tinked softly, their gentle music floating to the ears of all those present with each new breeze. In the fading light outside of a tall, crooked, haphazardly built house five good friends said their teary goodbyes beneath the watchful gaze of Sirius Black. Tearful whispers and words of protest danced on the wind and paraded about his heightened senses in a delicate waltz with the wind chimes that was punctuated by a small sigh of regret that the aging wizard couldn't suppress. It was times like these he hated the war even more but there was nothing much that they could do; Arabella needed to leave for her own safety and that was final.

Had anyone warned him upon his escape from prison that he would come to be so attached to a child of Lucius he would have laughed in said wizard or witch's face and offered them a portkey to St. Mungo's, but she had wormed her way into his heart nonetheless although Ginny had claimed her first.

It had been little Ginerva that was the first to clap a small, polite greeting at the welcoming feast at the beginning of their fifth year (well, the beginning of _Harry's _fifth year at least) and it was she who made room for their equally surprised new housemate whom they later learned was none other than Draco's twin sister whom none but the Slytherins even seemed aware existed. She had attended Beauxbatons, she said, apparently as a result of a "wild and most unladylike nature," which, according to the elder Malfoys, was nothing a bit of culture and etiquette couldn't cure her of.

She had been rather quiet and withdrawn at first, especially after receiving a howler from her father, and remained silent as to the reasoning behind her sudden transfer. In fact, it hadn't been until after she had confronted that Umbridge woman and shared a detention with Harry that she was accepted into the fold. She had been forced to transfer to provide a stable, supportive family unit upon Voldemort's return and to prepare her to one day take the mark, she revealed one night in the Gryffindor common room before assuring the others that that had never been what she wanted and as the weeks passed she began to open up more and more and act more herself.

Ginny had remained her closest friend throughout the year, and the young Malfoy had contributed what knowledge she could to the DA when it was formed. She knew how their enemies would be fighting, and though she made her allegiances more than obvious with each passing day she didn't seem to be afraid of utilizing what Dark magic she knew. Even Snape had been impressed with the girl, and Sirius-

Sirius saw so much of himself in her it scared him. She was wild, rebellious, and yet held herself with that pureblooded grace that had flowed into her being from birth. Prideful and confident on the outside, she was still easily overcome by pensive moments where she seemed amazed that her friends could even tolerate her presence. Here was a family member he could actually relate to, and he had been hard pressed not to reach out to her personally and content himself with letters about her from Harry. It wasn't until Christmas break when she had accepted Harry's invitation to join them at Grimmauld Place that he had finally met her in person and by the end of the holiday he had been so impressed as to invite her to spend the summer there with Harry and himself since it was already quite obvious she was no longer welcome at home, and then had come the ministry.

Of all the chaotic moments of battle, her saving of his life rang the most clear in his memory. Just when he had turned at Harry's warning cry, already realizing he had run out of time to shield himself, a jet of green light had rapidly and unexpectedly crossed his vision and his cousin was down, her lips slightly open but weather in surprise or from her half-muttered hex he would never know, and Bella was in tears to his right.

In all the confusion of switching ministers and with the justification of battle in which she had been doing what she saw as necessary to save herself and others, charges were never pressed but the murder of her aunt had been taken as the final betrayal and Lucius had vowed to never stop hunting her until she was dead for the dishonour she had placed upon the Malfoy name.

So here she was just a few months later, forced to leave the friends she had come to love like family until Dumbledore declared it safe enough for her to return or she came of age at which point even he couldn't stop her from joining the Order and fighting back.

They had spent the summer teaching Bella all they could of muggle lives and culture so that she could hide with an old friend of Remus' in America, but worry still gnawed at the lining of his stomach before Sirius forced it down and forced a small smile onto his face. Bella and the others had apparently finished their goodbyes and she was solemnly gliding towards him, her hair bleached whiter than normal and her eyes a deep, stormy gray.

"You'll see them soon you know, this isn't permanent," he reassured as positively as he could under the circumstances. She returned his bitter smile.

"I know, it's just that I'm going to miss you all so much," she replied in a hoarse whisper that was clearly forcing back tears. Sirius pulled her into a tight embrace before releasing her reluctantly and pulling a small platinum ring out of his pocket set with a small, if overly stunning, emerald and held it out to her.

"Here, you have almost as much right to this as I do, especially since I'll never wear it," he began with a rueful smile, "It's a black heirloom that also serves as a portkey. It will grow warm when you are in danger, but whisper _portus _and it will activate from anywhere in the world and take you to the library at Grimmauld Place."

"Thank you," she murmured as a tear escaped her right eye though she didn't dignify it with an acknowledgement.

"There's no need for thanks. Just promise me you'll be safe," he implored his ward. She nodded her head with a small smile and he reluctantly held out a small gray stone. "Just whisper _portus_ and it will take you to Mr. Swan." She nodded solemnly, hugged him one last time, and with a barely audible whisper she was gone.

**A/N: **To those of you who weren't scared away by my warning and like what you see, the first chapter will be posted next Monday. From then on there will be a new chapter posted every Monday until the story is complete. Please let me know your thoughts! Constructive criticism is always welcome, I do this for the betterment of myself as a writer. All other thoughts/comments are equally welcome!


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: **Hello everyone! Happy monday! (lol I typically dread mondays but it IS happy because I finally get to post this!) I would like to take this space to thank my wonderful reviewers and remind everyone that while I happily accept anonymous review it is terribly difficult to respond to them more than the vague "thank you for reviewing" at the beginning of each chapter! Haha anyways I would also like to say an extra huge THANK YOU to my officially unofficial but exceedingly awesome beta Cadence Callula Laramae who has been kind enough to fix all my atrocious mistakes and help me "british up" my story! But now, without further ado, may I present to you chapter one of Starlight Revised!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters, settings, and events from the Twilight and Harry Potter books and/or movies. Those rights belong to Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling.**

**Summary: **After the ultimate betrayal of her family at the Department of Mysteries, Arabella Malfoy is sent into hiding in Forks, WA under a vow not to perform magic until her return to wizarding Britain. Meanwhile Draco, distraught over the disappearance of his sister, must struggle to find a way to protect her from a Lord he had no interest in serving. Bella/Edward, Draco/Blaise

**Warning: **This story is rated M for a reason. Violence, Sex (both slash and het), character death and torture will all appear to some extent. If any of these are sensitive subjects, I do not recommend this story to you. There are plenty of T rated fics to browse. All I ask is that you keep this in mind.

Chapter One

When the nauseating pulling sensation at her navel finally ceased, Bella found herself on the front porch of a small, dilapidated building whose wooden slats might once have been white in the middle of rainy nowheresville Forks halfway across the world from where she most desperately wanted to be. Her pureblood sensibilities were reeling with the new living arrangements and she couldn't help thinking that at least The Burrow was neat and didn't look half abandoned, but she forced a polite smile on her face when a squib roughly the same age as Remus and Sirius opened the door.

"Hello Mr. Swan, my name is Arabella Malfoy. I do hope this is the hour in which you were expecting me?" she stated formally, offering a slight bow of her head. It was, perhaps, unnecessary but she _had _always been taught it was better to be overly polite than disrespectful and it was one lesson from her childhood that she doubted she would ever fully shake off.

"Yes, Miss Malfoy! So good to see you! Please do come in and make yourself comfortable. And you can call me Charlie," he returned pleasantly, opening the door wide to allow her entrance. "Your bags have already arrived and are in the spare bedroom upstairs, though I took the liberty of letting your cat out as he was being quite a nuisance. I'm a horrible cook but I can order some pizza whenever you're hungry and there's no shortage of cereal for breakfast."

"Thank you Charlie, if you don't mind I'd rather just get settled and take a nap, it was already evening when I left England after all," she responded gently and Charlie nodded his understanding before she went upstairs. She really was remarkably tired and briefly wondered if this was similar to muggle jet-lag before changing into pajama shorts and a tank top and climbing into bed.

By the time she woke up again it was already well into the afternoon and, resolved to spending a few days with odd hours before she could consider herself settled, Bella turned to the trunk at the foot of her bed. It was a simple affair, though elegantly done in a pale, almost silver wood with a pattern of flowering vines around the edges that were emphasized by a tasteful layer of glitter. It had been a gift from her parents upon her acceptance to Beauxbatons and was practically bottomless with charms that would allow her to shrink just about anything upon placing it over the mouth of the trunk and it would expand back to its normal size upon unpacking it.

First came a cream comforter lined in green vines and the green satin sheets that had been a sort of housewarming gift from Sirius (both he and Remus had apparently spent quite some time designing rooms for her and Harry at the Black estate in the countryside of Gloucester in the South of England) and she had seen no reason to buy another bed set when she had already fallen in love with the one she had. The floor was already a pale wood that matched nicely and with the aid of a little quick-drying, self-applying wizard's paint her walls were the same cream as her comforter with matching vines bordering the ceiling. She hung the filmy green drapes she had brought on the window and spread a plush green carpet on the floor beneath her bed before sitting back to admire her handiwork. She hadn't asked how muggles decorated and she didn't really want to know because surely this was easier! Just half an hour had past after her nap and already her room was complete, the similarities between it and the one she had left behind providing her with a simple comfort that she was quite happy to achieve and when her stomach protested a few minutes later she happily went down stairs to see about this "peet-sa" thing Charlie seemed so enamored with.

It turned out that "peet-sa" was a very messy and greasy finger-food that was nonetheless surprisingly delicious and she had just finished washing her hands free of grease in the kitchen sink when Charlie addressed her from across the room.

"I don't know if he told you," Charlie began, stumbling slightly over his words and flushing with the subsequent embarrassment, "but Sirius sent me a good deal of money so that you could get a car for school. He said you had taken driving lessons over the summer to help you fit in and thought that since you liked it so much and you can't fly until you get back, he would give you the money to get a nice car. There are some dealerships in Seattle that I can take you to tomorrow since I'm off, if you want."

Bella smiled at him genuinely as she thought it over, though the only reason it took her so long to reply was how pleasantly surprised she was. It was touching that Sirius had been thinking of her addiction to speed that would have otherwise been starved among all these muggles without her Comet Millennium. "Oh yes! Of course! When should I set my alarm!" she exclaimed excitedly all but bouncing on the balls of her feet as her hair flashed gold with her excitement (an indisputable signal that she was beyond emotional if she couldn't retain the usually flawless control she held on her metamorphmagus abilities). Charlie smiled and said that he would wake her with plenty of time to get ready before going back to the telly-thingy in the living room and watching some American muggle sport that seemed to involve hitting a small ball with a stick and running in circles. Muggles were very odd.

After being woken far earlier than she felt comfortable with by Charlie who was quite obviously one of those annoying, overly cheerful, morning people who chose to greet the dawn with a whistle and a skip, Bella forced herself into the shower and used the hair-dryer Hermione had bought her to dry her hair. Realizing that this would be a public venture and that her time in hiding had officially begun, Bella faced herself in the mirror and debated what to do about her appearance.

Unlike her cousin Tonks, Bella had never felt the need to flaunt her ability, preferring not to change her hair into outrageous colors. There was very little of her appearance that she ever toyed with without reason. She currently looked just like a Malfoy should. Long platinum blond hair fell in ringlets about her pale face as ice-blue eyes stared back out from heavily lashed lids. She had very sharp, aristocratic features and was quite tall for a girl, standing at 5'9". That was the first thing she fixed, focusing inward as she managed to shrink herself down by several inches until she stood at a respectable 5'4". She changed her hair color to a rich mahogany but left the ringlets, shortening it only slightly until it reached just short of midway down her back, and then proceeded to change her eye color to a deep, chocolate brown. She softened her features slightly and made her nose smaller and more delicate, her jaw less refined, while at the same time making her cheek bones slightly more pronounced.

She looked at herself again, pleased with her new face, and then left her skin the same pale shade; she liked the way it contrasted with her now dark features, before pulling on her night clothes and proceeding to brush her teeth. That was the only magic she would be allowed to do for the extent of her stay in hiding because if she ever dared to use her wand she would be immediately tracked down by the ministry and exposed, placing her back in danger.

Once back in her room, Bella opened the closet in which she had stored all her muggle clothes from the trunk. She scowled slightly at first, missing her robes, but at least the flowy clothes she had bought with Hermione were as close to robes as muggle clothes came. She called the tops "empire-waisted" or some such nonsense and insisted that they were to be belted at the waist and while not all of her wardrobe could be in the same style many of the other tops were similarly made of light, flowy materials that made her look rather fairy like and all of them had been enchanted to fit whatever shape she chose to morph into just in case she was discovered and had to move again.

The outfit she chose was rather simple with a purple one of those "empire-waisted" tops and pants that she was pretty sure were called "skin-jeans" or some other nonsense and soon enough she was climbing into one of those odd cars with flashing lights on top that were standard issue for the muggle version of aurors and she and Charlie were on their way to Seattle for a car of her own.

In the end the car she chose was simple and cute, a red VW GTI that while not a race car, could certainly pick up some speed and she happily followed Charlie back to Forks while simultaneously adjusting herself to the new controls and driving on the opposite side of the road. Once again she couldn't help lamenting over how strange muggles were, who's bright idea was it to switch sides of the road anyway?

That night that had more of the "peet-sa" that Charlie had kept cold in something he called a "fridge-er-something" and Bella could easily see the plebian fare getting old rather quickly but saw it as impolite to comment and instead continued on to her bedroom where she allowed sleep to take her and tried to ignore the dread she felt for the coming morning.

xXx

It was official: Bella hated muggle alarms. Who wanted to wake up to that blaring, beeping, electronic nuisance anyway? It wasn't even half past six and she already had a headache! She missed the gentle sound of a harp waking her in the morning, the breakfast prepared each morning by Sirius' house elves, and most of all her tea! Oh sure, Charlie had bought some tea as per her request but it was complete shit! The stupid spell that altered her accent was getting on her nerves and still Charlie had the bad grace to waltz around the kitchen humming like he was off to meet a lover in some trashy veela romance!

Instead of voicing her displeasure however, Bella chose to sip her horrid tea in silence and when she was finished she went upstairs, logged onto that confusing lap-top thing that Ginny and Hermione had spent almost a week teaching her how to use, and ordered a year's worth of tea with expedited delivery. Once done, she showered, dried her hair, morphed it back into perfect ringlets, and set about deciding which outfit would best allow her to fit in with the muggles.

After almost twenty minutes deliberating, Bella finally admitted to herself that she didn't really know the first thing about what would most allow her to "fit in" with the muggles and so decided that she would just have to go with an outfit similar to yesterday's. Choosing a flowing red blouse and another pair of those "skin-jeans," she changed quickly, grabbed her bag and her keys, and sped off to the torture chamber she was currently forced to consider "school."

Upon arriving at the pathetically scattered cluster of buildings they considered a school, she took the keys out of the ignition, grabbed her purse and bag, and walked up to the building that read "Main Office," swallowing hard as she opened the door. What was she thinking? She couldn't pull off being a muggle! People were going to notice for sure! She had grown up a pampered, sheltered pureblood! So she had spent a summer learning about them? They had lived this their whole lives! Her nerves and fears were starting to take a firm hold of her and she had to physically restrain herself from fleeing the door by firmly grasping the counter in front of her and trying her hardest not to hyperventilate. "Hello, my name is Isabella Swan, I'm a new student."

"Yes dear, one moment while I get your schedule," she said retreating behind her desk before pulling out a timetable with a list of her classes and a map of the campus. She smiled with relief at the presence of the map and thanked the lady behind the desk.

"Have a nice day and feel free to stop by should you need anything!" she called out kindly as Bella left, already searching for her first class room and studying the map so furiously that she accidentally ran into a muggle girl who grunted indignantly.

"Oh I'm so sorry, here," Bella said, helping the girl pick up her things before turning back to her, an embarrassed blush reddening her features.

"That's okay. You must be the new girl Chief Swan's daughter right?" she asked amiably.

"Yes, I'm Bella," she replied evenly.

"What's your first class?" and just like that she had made her first friend. It was nice, having someone to talk to, even if she did come off as a bit dim witted most of the time. Bella was just happy she hadn't completely botched her muggle act and tried her best to look like she was paying attention and understood what she was talking about when most of the time she might as well have been speaking Chinese. Yep, this sucked. This Jessica girl was certainly no Ginny.

Their first class, as far as Bella was concerned, was beyond awful. The teacher kept going on and on about the muggle books she had been assigned to read over the summer (which, to her great surprise, she had actually found rather interesting) but they were quickly losing their charm in the face of this stupid muggle teacher's constant droning. He was almost as bad as Professor Binns and he wasn't even dead!

Okay so her day was clearly not panning out as she had hoped, but what did she expect? These were muggles! They lived in a world completely devoid of magic and they were bloody boring! Okay so that was a bit crude even by Bella's standards but still, this was going to drive her insane! She had never really realised how attached she was to magic and how much she missed the use of her wand until now. That wasn't even to mention the constant buzzing in her ear that was Jessica's worthless prattle; did she not know when to take a hint? The whole class Bella had been furiously studying her nails and doing her best to pull a Hermione and take some notes all in the effort of showing to Jessica and everyone else that she did NOT want to be bothered but did she shut up? NO!

She had only been in this stupid country in this tiny, worthless, muggle town for two days and already she was prepared to take a short jump from a tall cliff! She missed England so much! She missed her friends, her classes where there was at least a somewhat interesting curriculum, hell she even missed Snape that's how bad it was! Even Beauxbatons was better than this hell hole. If they didn't end this war soon she was going to personally piss on caution and come back anyway. Death had to be better than eternal boredom.

Once English was over she had to go to yet another class. Can you believe there were seven? In one day! Absolutely ludicrous! Next was government. Who the hell studies government? Muggles learn these things in school? Wizards have to go to University before they have to worry about that! Oh well, government it was. Time to learn more about the goings on in the daily lives of muggles! Yay! (note the sarcasm dripping from that awful three letter word) With her head down and only the soft sound of her shoes scuffing the sidewalk as company she made her way to her next infernal class. At least she didn't really have to pass or anything so she could just sleep it off. Stupid time difference. America sucked.

So she slept her whole second period away but actually managed to listen for her third. She had always been a fan of arithmancy and this 'trig' thing kind of reminded her of that. It was pretty easy to follow and she had the feeling Hermione would have gone apeshit over all the new information so that gave her a good laugh for part of the class. It really was kind of pathetic that all she could think about was how her friends would react in these situations but she couldn't really bring herself to care.

Spanish was a bore. Honestly, she had learned that language when she was so young she didn't even remember who her tutors were anymore. "It's a Malfoy's job to be well prepared. We can't have some foreigner scamming us because we don't know their language," her father used to always say when she was younger. Yeah, well, at least that gave her the opportunity to sleep some more.

"Estas prestando atencion?" she heard the teacher ask her as she doodled in her notebook pictures of said teacher falling off a broom and into the Whomping Willow.

"Si senora, lo siento. Que es su pregunta?" she asked in perfect Spanish looking up at the woman spitefully, humor shining in her eyes and the signature Malfoy smirk twisting her lips. That was the most exciting thing to have happened all morning! And when the bell rang guess what? That stupid muggle girl was there again! Oh well, at least she could entertain herself with trying to guess who this girls intelligence level would best compare to. Crabbe or Goyle? Hmm, difficult question, she would have to ponder that for a while.

"Okay so today is so awesome! You like aren't even the only new kid! During second period some group of like five kids from who knows where just, like, showed up! This town never gets this much excitement! Will you sit next to me at lunch? You need to meet Mike and Angela! Oh and we can so pick apart the other newbies! I had class with one of them and she was SO gorgeous! Word is they are all adopted and like live together and stuff, have you had any in any of your classes? Oh wait, you probably wouldn't know, everybody is new to you…"

Bella tuned her out. Did she ever shut up? Were all muggles like that? If so then maybe she had been wrong all along and they really should be exterminated! Okay so maybe that was bit extreme but really, she was on the brink of pulling a Dobby and slamming her fingers in a hot oven! No wonder house elves punish themselves, if they have to put up with crap like that all the time, she couldn't really blame them! Soon they were in the cafeteria and Jessica was still trying to tempt her more homicidal side when she saw them and the first and only word that came to mind was 'shit!' What the bloody hell were vampires doing in a muggle school? Or any school for that matter! She immediately used the trick Tonks had taught her to mask her scent from Sirius when they were playing hide and seek over Easter and with a few tweaks managed to only morph the scent of her blood into nonexistence. The last thing she needed was to be attacked by a blood thirsty vampire when she was prohibited from using magic. Those fuckers were hard enough to kill if you were a fully grown wizard! Once that was over and done with she began to worry, not really for herself but for everyone else around her. The muggles would be defenseless against such monsters, and even if they were annoying as hell she did not wish that fate on any of them. She was severely tempted to walk over there and threaten to call in the ministry on their arses but she had strict orders from Dumbledore not to reveal herself and by strict orders she was thinking more along the lines of an unbreakable vow he had forced her to make. Damn Dumbledore and his meddlesome qualities! He was going to get her killed!

"Aren't they gorgeous?" Jessica enthused from her side, and she couldn't help but agree even if she knew the reason as to why they were so fit. There were five of them, though she had a feeling there were more in their coven playing the roles of "parents" which would make this the largest coven she had ever heard of. There were three males in attendance; one tall and extremely muscular, one also tall and with wild blond hair that reminded her a bit of Hermione's untamable mane, and the last and most beautiful of the three with tousled copper hair and a stern, aristocratic jaw. He was looking straight at her and his gaze sent shivers up her spine but that was when she noticed it: their eyes weren't red.

She knew they were vampires, based on appearance alone there was simply nothing else they could be, but that was all the more reason for their eyes to confuse her so much. Since when did vampires start having golden eyes? She knew she was staring and played it off as just a muggle being stunned by their beauty before turning back to Jessica and sincerely hoping they hadn't caught the confusion and curiosity she was feeling in her eyes.

The rest of lunch went by in a haze as she continued to pick at her food, barely eating any of it, and trying her best to inconspicuously look up at the vampires across the cafeteria, but every time she did he was there, staring at her with those confusing golden eyes and scaring her back into looking at her picked apart pizza. Even more unsettling was the presence she felt skimming along outside her occlumency shields, every now and then making a frustrated, pointed attack. None of the probes stood even the slightest chance of getting through, they were far too sloppy, but that they were there at all set her on edge. Someone was trying to read her mind.

She felt a bit bad for ignoring her tablemates. They seemed nice enough even if the blond one, Mike? tended to look a bit like a lost puppy. Angela was sweet and quiet and reminded her a bit of Neville, or what she could see Neville acting like if he was a girl. They tried their best to include her in their conversations but after being brushed off a few too many times for their liking they were starting to take a hint and leave her alone.

When the bell rang she unceremoniously dumped her mutilated lunch into the rubbish bin, noting as she did that the vampires also threw their food away, though they had not even bothered to pick at theirs, and were one of the first ones of the room. She just gave a mental shrug, grabbed her things, and after briefly studying her map made her way over to her next class: Biology. That just didn't even sound appealing.

Upon entering the class room, Bella noted that due to her little detour to her locker to drop off her old books and get the ones she would need for the second half of her day, she was the last one to arrive. Everyone else was already seated and chatting amiably as they discussed their summers. The only seat left was the one directly next to one of the vampires. She had to physically restrain herself to keep from groaning her displeasure. This was just what she needed… not. Ugh, she really did have rotten luck!

Sluggishly she trudged over the seat next to the bronze-haired god of a vampire and had to give herself a mental shake. 'Vampires are dangerous, Bella, you should not be mentally undressing them,' she had to remind herself sharply upon catching that thought. For all she knew he was plotting the demise of every single student in this room; the last thing she should be thinking about was jumping him!

"Edward Cullen," he greeted with a charming, if a bit curious, smile.

"Bella, Bella Swan," she said in return, trying her best not to let on that she knew what he was while simultaneously doing her best to treat him like all of the other muggles she had met at this school thus far.

"So the gossip 'round the school is you're new too, where are you from?" he asked, genuine curiosity shining in his eyes; it made her suspicious. He hadn't talked to anyone else yet from what she could tell, what made her so special? She had to keep herself from narrowing her eyes at this altogether too gorgeous creature of destruction.

"Phoenix," she replied easily going along with her cover story. She had always been a good actress which she had almost definitely stemmed from her metamorphmagus abilities.

"Wow, it's so sunny there why move all the way out here?" he asked, and once again she could see the genuine curiosity in his eyes. Why was he so interested?

"My mother recently married a minor league baseball player, I moved here with my dad so they could travel and stuff," she replied fluidly, shrugging it off like it was no big deal. She couldn't help wishing the real reason behind her move had been that easy.

Her statement seemed to confuse him even more, like that was the last thing he ever expected her to say and he looked like he was about to continue his little game of twenty questions but the bell rang and the teacher walked in at the last moment to start his lecture. She should have been happy for the excuse to be left alone but for some reason she felt the exact opposite and instead sat their patiently mulling over the handsome creature seated to her left, extremely grateful that he was unaware of her thoughts.

Class was uneventful as the teacher handed out the syllabi and explained that the seats chosen were to be permanent and that each student's desk-mate would also be their lab partner for the duration of the year. Edward was still staring at her. She refused to meet his eyes but the whole class she had felt his gaze burning into the side of her head and it was becoming more than a little disturbing.

"Look, I'm sure you're a really nice guy and all, but why the interest? You don't seem nearly as fascinated with the others as you do with me," she said in an annoyed and slightly breathless voice as the rest of the class gathered their things.

"I don't know, there's just something about you. You're different," he said. She froze.

"I don't know what you're on about, but I have to get to class," she said curtly. This was not good. The last thing she needed was a bloody fucking vampire investigating her life! Merlin! He followed her out the door. She scowled, ignoring him to the best of her ability. It was not helping that his stupid vampire gorgeousness was making her weak at the knees.

Finally they reached the gym and she could ignore him no longer. Instead she turned on her heel in full on "bitch mode", as Ginny had so lovingly dubbed it, and faced him down to the best of her significantly shortened ability. "Edward, you need to stop. I don't know why you are so fascinated with me but this is not okay. I really need you turn your sparkly little arse around and Leave. Me. Alone." Shite! She realized her slip too late! Damn him! He was screwing around with the functionality of her brain! Her whole body seized up as she looked up at him in fear only to realize he hadn't even noticed her slip. She sighed in relief.

"Uh-huh, okay, bye Bella," he said. She glowered. He was amused! Bloody amused! She wanted to kick his cold as stone arse all the way to Ethiopia! Instead she turned on her heel and stalked into the gym. Great, that was just what she needed; to have to play sports for an hour. There was only one sport she was good at, and that was mostly due to the fact that because she was on a broom she never had to worry about her gravitationally challenged feet tripping over themselves and over-all trying their best to paralyze her. "You really don't like me, do you God?" she asked with a shake of her head before going to change.

By the time gym was over she almost wished she could have spent the rest of the afternoon arguing with a vampire and flaunting her apparent death wish. When school was finally over though, she allowed herself a small sigh of relief. Bella officially hated the muggle education system. Why did they insist on torturing their young with such things as dodge ball? Sports such as that seemed terribly unfair! Especially for the gravitationally challenged! Gingerly, she changed back into her normal clothes, she would have bruises the next day and a lot of them. "Stupid fucking muggles," she griped as she fished the keys out of her purse and pressed the little button to unlock her car, cursing again when she saw who was right next to it leaning against a shiny silver Volvo, all smirks.

"Muggles?" he asked amused.

"Yeah, it's a term my mum and I used to always use to describe stupid people, because it isn't exactly proper for a five year old to say "dunderhead."" Bella griped, wishing the great nag of a vampire could bother her on some other day when she was in a decent enough mood to deal with him even as she internalized her snickers over "muggles" being synonymous with "stupid." Besides, it wasn't like that statement was totally inaccurate, her family _did_ consider "muggles" to be synonymous with "stupid" when she was growing up.

"Oh yes and it's so flattering to be referred to as a 'stupid fucking muggle'" he teased.

"I'm not five anymore and I will say whatever the fuck I want, thank you very much. Now if you would be so kind as to leave me alone I would much rather be home than here with a pretentious muggle such as yourself," she said in retaliation, tempted to shove his pale arse off of the car he was leaning against just for kicks and grins. She had been hanging around Sirius way too much it seemed. He was a bad influence on her.

"Well I'm sorry mam, just let me move out of your angry little way. Nice car by the way, I was just admiring it," he said, his eyes alight with laughter. She couldn't help but think that if he seriously found her this entertaining then he really needed to get a life. Then she laughed; get a life! What a wonderful thing to say to a vampire! Ha! Okay so maybe it really wasn't all that difficult to see the Malfoy in her if you knew what you were looking for.

"Yes well, maybe you should take a picture or something because I'm leaving and I want you to keep your annoying little fingers off my baby! Now leave! Actually, I don't really care if you do or not. _I'm_ leaving. I would say have a nice day but then I wouldn't really mean it so what's the point?" She finished with a Malfoy smirk and was gone, zipping out of the school's car park, the smirk firmly still in place. The look on his face had been priceless! Maybe staying in Forks wouldn't be so bad after all.

**A/N: **there you have it! Chapter One! Chapter Two will be posted a week from today but until then I would LOVE to hear from you guys! Let me know what you think!

-A


	3. Chapter Two

**A/N:** Hello again everyone! I apologise for the delay! Unfortunately life has been quite hectic lately but at least now, as of last night, I am officially a High School graduate (for those of you who don't live in the states, our "High School" is the equivalent of your "College") and I will be able to attend College (or "university") in the fall! YAY! Anyways due to the craziness of my life right now this update is late and partially as an apology but mostly because of the fact that I will be on vacation for over two weeks (first is freshman orientation, then a trip to Australia, then camp counsling with the kiddos) I will be posting a new chapter every day until I leave on the 6th! Enjoy! -A

**Disclaimer: ****:** I do not own any recognizable characters, settings, and events from the Twilight  
and Harry Potter books and/or movies. Those rights belong to Stephanie Meyer  
and J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Two

Edward was still standing in the parking lot staring down the street after the strange new girl when Alice found him, her features troubled. Briefly he wondered if she had caught a glimpse of the future and the worry had him seeking out her thoughts but she was reciting the Greek alphabet backwards and her eyes told him to just give up so he caved.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Alice asked as she walked around to the passenger door; everyone else had gone with Rosalie in her car.

"I don't know Alice. She's silent to me; I can't hear her thoughts! I see her and smell her and hear her and I know she's there, but I can't even sense her mind, let alone try to read it! I've never seen anything like it before, and I want to know _why_!"

"So let me get this straight, your breaking our number one rule to never get close to the humans because you can't hear her thoughts?" the pixie said slowly and deliberately as if she were talking to someone who wasn't all there in the head.

"No, it's not just that Alice, she's different. I can't explain it but she's not like the other humans. It's not like I'm getting attached or anything, she's just interesting and infuriating and," he had to stop himself before he said 'beautiful'. That wouldn't have gone over well. After a moment's pause he remembered something else. "I can't smell her blood Alice," he said the last bit so softly she almost didn't catch it, but the moment her mind processed his words she slammed on the breaks, pulling over to the side of the road.

"What do you mean you can't smell her blood, is she a vampire?" she asked incredulously, pressing him for details.

"No, she's definitely still human, I just can't smell her blood: just her skin and hair. It's the oddest thing…" he mumbled trailing off and scrunching up his brow like he always did when something was bothering him. "I don't know what it is that makes this girl so different Alice, but I intend to find out." he said resolutely. She looked him in the eyes.

"I know, but I really wish you wouldn't." Alice said in that way that only a self-assured psychic could, knowing her words would not make one bit of a difference. She could see where this was headed, but the lack of a solid ending had her worried. There were simply too many tangents his path could lead down at the moment and it was giving her a headache.

"I'm not going to give up Alice. There's just something about this girl… I need to figure her out," and before she could even acknowledge his statement, he had tossed her his keys and fled into the forest. Oh yes, this was very, very bad. He was so out of it he had trusted her with his car, but instead of taking advantage of the situation she shook her head wearily and drove home.

With barely audible whispers, Edward's feet devoured acres of forest as he ran to clear his head. He wasn't really sure what had gotten into him, this was all so strange! How could a human not have a blood smell? Why couldn't he read her thoughts? The image of her face was practically superimposed on the backs of his eyelids as he ran. She was beautiful, spirited, ad more than anything Edward just wanted to know _more_! He couldn't stand anomalies for which there seemed to be no answers. He had spent his entire overly elongated life learning at one institution or another and he had not once come across a similar problem for which he couldn't find the answer.

He knew his family wasn't going to be happy with him for this. Nobody wanted to move anytime soon after all the effort Esme had put into remodeling their old house and Forks was nice in that it was almost always overcast. Rosalie was probably already preparing the boxes she would use to ship each of his parts individually to Timbuktu and Esme would be fretfully dusting spotless rooms to contain her worry. He spared a momentary pang of sympathy for Jasper as he considered how much "retail therapy" Alice was likely to be indulging in and considered it likely that come next week everyone would practically have a whole new wardrobe come through the mail. He found his comfort in running, and it was already beginning to ease his mind.

There was something exhilarating in the rush of wind against his face and the green blur of flashing trees in his peripheral vision. If ever there was a time when he could allow himself to appreciate the monster he had become, it was while he was running. Swiftly and with a strength no human could ever imagine, he dodged trees and leapt across streams with wild abandon. At one point he passed the trail of a mountain lion and stalked it with the unbridled glee and determination of a powerful hunter until he found it hiding in a tree and drained it. It wasn't until he came across an old white house practically overgrown by the surrounding vegetation that he realized where his feet had lead him, and with a small satisfied smile Edward cloaked himself in the coming darkness and climbed the tree outside what was, without a doubt, _her _window.

xXx

It wasn't until she got home that Bella allowed the real reason she had been so upset all day wash to the fore of her thoughts and she found herself once again thinking about everyone she had left behind. Was it ridiculous that the one thing she missed the most was her gray pegasus Imp? She had never been without him since the day she got him as a present from Draco for her eleventh birthday. When she had been lonely at Beauxbatons, she always had Imp, when things started getting rough at home, she could always go out for a quick ride and feel infinitely better, but Forks was no place for a spirited granian and she had been forced to leave him behind along with everyone else she loved. This was NOT fun! Once in her room she immediately started blaring an old Hobgoblins tape and immersing herself in her favorite band, so what if they were 'before her time'? She and Sirius and Remus used to dance around the house in their socks for hours after they found out her secret love while Harry always managed to wind up on the floor in stitches.

With the music blaring satisfactorily in the background, Bella then took out one of her beloved sketch pads and began to draw. At first Dumbledore had not wanted to allow her to take it because of all of the drawings she had made of the magical world but he had relented after she had convinced him that anyone who might stumble upon it would chalk it up to her drawing things she had read about or imagined, but this time what she was drawing had nothing to do with magic. On the paper before her, outlined in graphite, were the beginnings of a man's face, and she knew exactly whose it was. Tempted to throw it across the room, she instead finished it before sitting there for another hour just staring at her rendition. She had drawn _him_. Edward. Damn it, she was in such deep shite!

It was nearing eight o' clock when the wards alerted her to Edward's presence. After being created by Dumbledore himself in the weeks before her flight from England, they had keyed into her magical signature upon entering the house. Regretting the necessity to put on her "muggle mask" even in the privacy of her own room, Bella sighed and switched her music over to some harmless mix cd of all of her and Sirius' favorite classic muggle artists that he had given her as part of a set for her trip. Over the surround sound speakers she had insisted on getting, Brown Eyed Girl began to play and she started to sway her hips with the music as she put away her homework and dusted her room unnecessarily to occupy herself while she listened to one of her favorite songs. Once it was over and Jump by Van Halen had started up she cheerily grabbed some pajamas (navy blue shorts and a white tank) and made her way to the bathroom. Charlie wasn't home so she didn't feel guilty turning her speakers up as loud as they would go so she could still enjoy her music while she took a quick shower and threw her wet brown curls up into a sloppy bun before she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and went back into her room, still dancing slightly along with each new song that came on. He wanted to spy on her? So be it! Living with three guys had taught her not to be embarrassed over such things as bad dancing and she didn't give a rat's arse if he didn't like her dancing. This was her room, her sanctuary, and she would do whatever the fuck she pleased. She was almost tempted to turn around and stick her tongue out at him to where she knew he was hiding in the tree just outside her window.

"Just another brick in the wall," she sang quite loudly, her music still turned up all the way as she danced around her room. Okay so part of her was hoping that if she looked weird enough he would leave her alone and the other half knew that she was only doing this to keep herself from opening the window, pulling him in, and ravaging him on her nice, big, soft bed. Damn it Bella stop! Stop it right now! She ordered herself internally, followed by a "Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone!" as she kicked her stupid biology book stubbing her toe and causing her to fall flat on her arse. "Okay God, I get it, no crazy anger dancing for Bella. Ha ha, you happy now? I'm going to bed!" she called out, shaking her fist skyward as she turned off her stereo and turned off her lights, crawling happily into her bed and closing her eyes before a sudden thought hit her. _Shite he just saw me land myself flat on my arse!_ She hoped his laughter made him fall out of the tree and it was with that image in mind that she managed to drift off into dreamland.

Unfortunately, dreamland wasn't exactly a place Bella liked to be anymore. She had just chased a rogue goblin who had stolen her ice cream out of Florian Fortescue's when she tripped over a bundle of cloth and flesh. Looking back to apologize, she saw the sightless gaze of her aunt Bella and her chest seized with guilt and disgust, her stomach aching to heave as she scrambled away from the offending body as fast as she could.

"Now now Bella, can't you even face what you've done?" The cold voice of her father stated from somewhere behind her and her whole body shuddered involuntarily. "What did you expect? You may fight for the Light but you will always be a Malfoy. Cold. Cruel," He sneered through a drawn out pause, "Dark."

"No! She was going to kill Sirius! I only did what I had to!" She argued angrily backing away from her Father.

"No Bella, don't you see? All you had to do was stun her. You killed her, Bella. And you wanted to..." He smirked at his cowering daughter, "You _hated _her. You're no better than I am. Murderer!"

Bella screamed and jerked awake, tear streaming down her face as sobs shook her body mercilessly. She hadn't had that dream since she left England, and she had hoped she was starting to get over it but that didn't seem to be the case. Frustrated at herself for her weakness, she wished Harry or Sirius were here to comfort her. Or Draco. She missed her twin so much it hurt but he couldn't be told where she was because of his proximity to her father and Voldemort. Hell, she would have settled for that stupid vampire climbing through her window at this point. Instead she wrapped her arms around her legs and had to be content with comforting herself. Eventually, she slipped into a few more hours of restless sleep.

The next day Bella had the unfortunate joy of waking up before her alarm clock due to a radiant splash of sun shining through her apparently eastern-facing window, trace memories of flashing green light still superimposed on the back of her eyelids. Feeling subdued and in no mood for yesterday's righteous rebellion, she contented herself with dressing in the first thing her fingers touched and throwing her messy hair into a pony tail without bothering to spend the two seconds of necessary concentration to fix it. Her breakfast consisted of some more of Charlie's abysmal excuse for tea and some dry toast and ended with her grabbing her keys off the counter, ignoring the disgusting eggs, and leaving for school.

The Cullens weren't there when she arrived, but then, she didn't really expect them to be what with the sunshine and all. The thought brought forth a confusing clash of relief and disappointment that she decided to fervently ignore as she made her way to English where she pretended to take notes but in actuality doodled lazy, depressing spirals in green in on the front page of her notebook.

"Miss Swan!" an indignant voice that she realized must have repeated itself for about the fifth time before she recognized her false name called from the front of the class.

"Yes Profess- uh… Mr. Berty," she replied, chastising herself internally for the slip.

"Pay attention! Now, can you tell me the significance of the clock in Mrs. Havisham's house? Or were you not paying attention to that either?" The balding, annoyingly self-important muggle demanded. Luckily she had read the book and decided to simply baffle him with her answer rather than stick her tongue out at him as she was tempted to do.

"Oh certainly, Mr. Berty. You see, Mrs. Havisham was to be married and was getting ready for her wedding, doing her hair and lacing up her dress, you know? And then she received a letter from her groom at exactly twenty minutes to nine at which time she stopped all the clocks in the house," Bella replied serenely, contemptuously if one knew her well enough to recognize the glint in her eye. Mr. Berty stiffened, nodded his head, and went back to teaching.

Government was spent in a similar fashion with Bella staring out the window rather than doodling and in Spanish she simply nodded off to the annoyance of her teacher who, still bitter from the day before, apparently decided to leave her alone. She paid even less attention to her tablemates at lunch than the day before and they ignored her in return, biology was both boring and confusing this time around, and after deciding that she had had enough for one day she skived off gym went home, and went to sleep with the help of a lovely little black potion that fended off the dreams.

**A/N: **There you have it! Chapter two! Chapter three will be up sometime tomorrow and I would like to take this time to thank Cadence Callula Laramae who continues to be exceedingly helpful with this revision. Her unwavering assistance and support has been most welcome and she deserves a giant cyber cookie thank you for all her help! Please let me know your thoughts and predictions! -A


	4. Chapter Three

**A/N: **Hello again! I just want to thank those of you who have reviewed at this time because y'all are awesome and the fuel to my creative fire! (well, you and a minor caffeine overdose but who's counting?) I also want to give another big THANK YOU to Cadence for all her help and support. This chapter, as you will soon realize, is a **completely new chapter**! I'm rather proud of it and I would love some feedback on how you guys feel about the way it strays from my original story (though it still follows the main plot). Anyways, without further ado please enjoy chapter three! –A

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable characters, settings, and events from the Twilight and Harry Potter books and/or movies. Those rights belong to Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Three

"I am disappointed Lucius. Here we are with summer almost at a close and still you have yet to revenge our beloved Bellatrix and redeem the name of Malfoy. What have you to say for yourself?" the great Lord Voldemort demanded from his throne-like, wing-backed chair in the library at Malfoy manor where he had long since made himself at home.

"I assure you my Lord, it is taking time for the potion to mature but soon I will have a means of tracking the insolent brat that no one will have thought to counter act. She will pay for the dishonour she has brought upon my family," Lucius practically whimpered at his master's feet, hands trembling where they grasped the hem of the Dark Lord's robes.

"You had best be right and not fail me, for your sake and that of your pathetic son. _Crucio!" _the Dark Lord commanded, voice emotionless and echoing with a sharp hiss. Lucius writhed in pain at his feet, screaming himself hoarse as his limbs flailed and he crumpled in on himself spastically. Lord Voldemort laughed cruelly but even his laugh lacked any true emotional coating, the slits of his nose flared as he breathed in his follower's fear and despair. No one was mightier than he! They would all fear and despair and the would bow before him no matter what that pathetic Dumbledore cared to believe! They would fall!

Cackling still, he released his curse and dismissed the tall blond with contempt. Good help was so hard to come by these days and with Bellatrix gone he was feeling particularly surly.

_Nagini, _he hissed in parstletongue, allowing himself a brief smile of pleasure as his beautiful pet slithered forth from the shadows. So powerful. So venomous. All his to control.

_Yes snake-speaker?_

_ Watch him,_ the Dark Lord commanded before turning his mind back to his plans for the man's son, ultimately quite pleased with himself.

xXx

It was well past supper and the chilled remains of his evening meal were still waiting for a house elf to take them away when Draco finally pulled himself out of his fretful thoughts over his sister. He had to trust that that meddlesome old man could keep her safe. Surely if he could keep that fool Potter alive for so long he could do the same for Bella, and yet fear churned his stomach at the thought of what his father was undoubtedly planning for her.

His sister had always been the rebellious one, skipping lessons on etiquette with their tutors to go play outside and refusing to understand that she couldn't play with the muggles at the park because they were _muggles_. She played in mud and chased gnomes around the garden and chatted with house elves to pass the time. He had always loved, always treasured her and striven to protect her fragile innocence from their father who never seemed to understand her. Draco had loved his father as a child, he admired his strength and envied the respect in the eyes of those who knew him but his twin could care less for politics and heritage and it drove his parents mad that they couldn't seem to 'make her see sense.' When it was necessary he had always done what he could to draw their attention away from her after she had done something particularly bad but ultimately it had broken his heart when she was sent away to Beauxbatons because she couldn't seem to take the hint and at least _pretend_ to be the good little pureblood socialite.

He had been bitter on that first day and on his ride on the Express, and he knew it had cost him some friends but he just couldn't see how any of it _mattered _without his twin there to share it with him and make stupid, inane comments to the trolley lady and their peers and discuss how 'wouldn't it just be so perfect if she got sorted into hufflepuff! _That _would be a howler from father worth hearing!' And then the time had come when she had _finally _come to Hogwarts after Voldemort returned in their fourth year and been sorted into _Gryffindor _of all places! (not that he could really bring himself to be _surprised _that the hat had placed her there!) And another year had passed with him barely able to be seen with her lest he invoke his father's wrath while she whispered her little secrets with the other Gryffindors in the halls, and now this!

"She just had to go and kill Bellatrix!" he stated in the frustrating silence of their once shared double suite where her room sat empty across from their shared sitting room. It wasn't enough for her to defy father but she just had to go and risk her foolish neck like some bloody witless _Gryffindor_ while he was stuck here left with no way to avoid being sworn into the death eaters and worried sick! He wanted to throttle her and scream at her and hug her just to know that she was still there, still safe. Oh sure, he would now the moment anything happened to her even if Lucius didn't tell him, they were magical twins after all, but that wasn't the point! He needed to see her! He needed to know that the mental damage she had undoubtedly taken from using the killing curse wasn't tearing her apart! He needed to see that the Department of Mysteries had left her physically whole and unscathed and that she was going to be just fine!

He just barely restrained himself from throwing a vase and shrieking his frustration and it was good that he had because the rattling of his door a second later announced the presence of his father and he knew what this summons meant. He knew it was unavoidable and his blood ran cold and he wanted to run kicking and screaming but that would only result in his death and he couldn't help his sister if he was dead and damn it! He was a Slytherin and he didn't _want _to bloody die like some stupid noble Gryffindor! So he straightened his back and smoothed over his robes before walking to his door and following his father's ashen face into the hall. So he had been tortured again.

_Good._

Stoically, with a clam mask in place to shield his terror from those who would only twist it into fodder for their own perverse glee, Draco followed his Father into the library where Voldemort was waiting with his inner circle. He recognized their faces and kept his mind busy by facing and naming them all in turn: Peter Pettigrew, Avery, Macnair, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Rodolphus, and lastly Snape, Voldemort's little spy. Draco wished he could bring himself to hate the man who had been more like a Father to him and Bella for as long as he could remember, but couldn't seem to do it, a fact which shamed him. Each of these men would leap at a chance to harm her. Draco didn't let the anger reach his eyes.

"Welcome," the Dark Lord began from across the room. Draco was once more forced to swallow his hatred.

"It is an honor, my Lord," he replied instead, falling to his knees and prostrating before him. He would find a way to use this to his advantage, and he would help Bella, he just needed to get through this without letting them suspect.

"Rise young Malfoy, it is time you joined my ranks. Do you choose to deny this honor?" The man who was more serpant than anything else asked in a tone that promised death if the answer were a refusal. Draco swallowed past the lump in his throat and kept his eyes on the floor lest the Dark Lord read his true intentions there.

"Yes, please my Lord, I want nothing more than to serve you." He replied emotionlessly.

The Dark Lord laughed and Draco allowed himself a disgusted shudder, knowing the arrogant man would take it for reverence and delight and possibly fear. From somewhere in the shadows of the room a barrier was released and the terrified hyperventilation of a young girl was released. Draco's eyes snapped up involuntarily as realization turned his bones to lead. The girl was small, perhaps nine or ten with long blond hair and blue eyes remarkably like that of his sister. Her body was trembling with fear and desperate confusion shone from her blue eyes that had long since rid themselves of what tears they could muster. He didn't sense any magic from her. _So she was a muggle or a squib_, he thought to himself as he looked at her broken espression and prepared for the command that would follow.

"A life for a life. In order to receive the mark and begin a new life as one of my chosen army of Death Eaters, you must take the life of another, but first, come forward." The Dark Lord Voldemort ordered him.

Draco did so with mechanical steps as he forced himself to look away from the girl's tear stained face. He didn't want to do this! How could he? What had she ever done wrong, this girl who looked so much like his beloved sister? How could he bring himself to look her in the eyes and seal her fate? And yet he knew he must. If he didn't kill her one of the other death eaters surely would, and he would be dead, and his sister would remain unprotected. He forced his feet forward step by step until he was kneeling directly at the dark lord's feet.

"Raise your left arm," Voldemort hissed

Draco complied, forcing himself to look down and not tremble with dread.

"_Morsmordre"_ the Dark Lord hissed and a black stain flooded from his wand and settled over the inside of his arm. "Now you must kill to complete the spell," Voldemort demanded and Draco made himself stand and face the girl across the room. At least if he killed her she wouldn't suffer. If he hesitated, he would die and she would be tortured for sport right beside him. He had to do this. He forced his eyes to stay open in silent witness do her death as he whispered the spell that would end her life.

"_Avada Kedavra,"_ and the whole world was pain. He fell to his knees and rolled to his back while violent shock after violent shock flooded his body from the newly formed mark on his arm. Tears of pain and anger and despair and regret flooded his eyes and escaped his barriers as they shattered and he writhed on the floor screaming. _Shite it burned! _But he couldn't help thinking he deserved it. That little girl's panicked expression filled his mind's eye as he writhed and screamed and cried and all the while all he could think was _I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, forgive me Bella, I tried, I'm sorry _and the only reason it couldn't fall from his lips through his shattered filter was because his throat was to busy ripping itself raw with screams and all around him Voldemort's minions smiled and laughed their delight and Voldemort spoke through it all.

"Welcome Draco, Death Eater," and Draco wanted nothing more than to melt into the floor and cease to be, but that wouldn't help Bella and she needed him.

xXx

When his son's screaming finally ceased, Lucius allowed himself a moment of pride. At least one of his children had not been a complete failure. Draco was weak, that much was unavoidable, but he was not so weak as his sister and when Draco looked to him a moment later he allowed a bit of that pride to show on his face and bowed his head ever so slightly in respect. The name of Malfoy might be redeemed yet.

When the meeting was over Lucius swept out into the hall and considered his suspicions of Severus. The man had practically helped raise Draco, he should be proud, delighted in what Lucius son and heir had become, and yet he had stood there with a blank look that Lucius could nonetheless read despair in. He had gone to school with Severus, they had been allies for the majority of their respective lives, and Lucius could read him better than anyone. There was something not right in that disappointed stare but he decided to save his information until he had proof. The Dark Lord wouldn't take kindly to groundless accusations against his right hand man.

Three flights of stairs and three wings later, Lucius arrived in his underground potions lab and laid aside his Death Eater robes before rolling up his sleeves and going to check on the simmering potion that was now a vibrant green with hazy amber fumes. It was time to add the diced kelpie hearts at last and there were just a few more ingredients left after that. Soon, his blood tracking potion would be complete and with just a few drops of his own blood he would have the location of his daughter. A twisted smirk lit his face and he allowed himself a low hum of pleasure. No one soiled the Malfoy name and lived.

**A/N: **Well, there you have it! Poor Draco! His life will get better soon enough but I can't help feeling sorry for the poor git! Let me know your thoughts: I love to hear from you!-A


	5. Chapter Four

**A/N: **Ah! I'm sooo sorry I'm posting this so late in the day! Unfortunately "shopping" turned into "shopping and a movie" turned into "shopping and a mini movie marathon"! Funny how that happens! Anywho I want to say a quick thanks to Ruler of all Evil who's review made me feel like I was a marsh mellow gone melty! I swear, that made my day! And once again I want to thank my "officially unofficial" beta Cadence for all her hard work! You make this story possible!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable characters, settings, and events from the Twilight and Harry Potter books and/or movies. Those rights belong to Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Four

The Alarm clock blared the following Monday after a too-short weekend of peace, starting the day with Bella throwing it against the wall. It shattered. This was quickly becoming a routine, and an expensive one at that. She was going to have to start leaving it far away from her destructive morning self or she would never be able to keep an alarm clock. She only had a limited supply!

After making peace with the idea of actually rolling out of bed, Bella made her way to the bathroom at a snail's pace where she freed her hair and grimaced. It looked awful after drying while she slept in that sloppy bun and she quickly focused inward to straighten it out until it was back to it's much more manageable ringlets that she swiftly French braded, leaving a few strays to hang loose about her face and darkened her lashes to give the appearance of mascara while simultaneously adding some color to her cheeks. Leaving her lips the same shade as yesterday, she grudgingly pulled on a yellow blouse and a pair of white trousers that she thought were just a different variation of those 'skin-jeans.' Her weekend had been dull, sunless and colorless but Bella decided that just because the rest of Forks was a dreary gray did not mean she had to be. Her purse today was white leather and she grabbed her bag, slammed down her tea, and was out the door.

The door hadn't even had the chance to shut fully behind her when her hair raised and she stopped, momentarily frozen as she looked into the predatory gaze of her very own vampire stalker. Leaning against his shiny menace of a car, Edward Cullen was all greaser in his white tee, and worn jeans. She almost laughed as he reminded her of Sirius. "Hey Baby, how about you let me drive today," he said with a smile. He was blocking her in! Bella desperately wished she could just apparate away, but even with the ability to use her magic she wouldn't have known how.

"This isn't the sixties Edward, I think you got your times confused," she stated, settling for a condescending tone and a raised chin. Was this supposed to impress her? Even if he was inspired by her music it was hardly _that _old!

"Did you just snort?" he asked incredulously, Bella's eyes widened.

"Obviously not. Mal… I mean Swans don't snort," she corrected firmly, her cheeks flushing of their own accord as she recovered from her slip. "But seriously Edward, it's not Halloween."

"So? Why deny a man his fun?" he teased. She was severely tempted to roll her eyes.

"Man? You're sixteen Edward, not thirty," she returned, knowing he was probably much older than that but not letting it show in her voice. In his car a CD was playing "Carry on my Wayward Son" and she had to try very, very hard just to keep herself from laughing when she realized he had probably been alive when that song was on vinyl and that the clothes he was wearing very well could have been from when he experienced the sixties. It was really quite amusing.

"Well are you going to get in or not little girl?" he teased in a pathetic attempt to get back at Bella for her earlier statement.

"Okay Edward, whatever you say, just don't eat me or anything," she taunted, knowing he would pass it off as harmless and smiling inwardly at her own sadistic humor.

"Don't worry, I don't bite… hard," he joked back, humor lighting up his strange topaz eyes; that was one secret she was just dying to figure out.

"Are you wearing contacts?" she asked quite suddenly.

"What? No, of course not. Why do you ask?" he replied nervously, though it was clear he was trying to play it off as nothing. Bugger, that really wasn't supposed to be said out loud. Now she needed to save face.

"Oh, um, it's just that your eyes seem darker today is all," she replied, looking down to hide her partial lie. Yes, his eyes were darker, but she already knew the answer to that.

"Oh, no, I don't wear contacts, they just do that sometimes," he replied, his hands tightly gripping the wheel as he pulled out of her drive way. "So, let's play twenty questions, today it's my turn," he said with a smirk before rattling of his first question.

"What's your favorite color?"

Bella was completely taken off guard by the change in conversation, but she answered anyway. "It changes,"

"What is it today?"

"Yellow…"

"Yellow? Is that the reason for the bright clothes? What's so special about yellow?" he asked, looking at her curiously though he never wavered from the middle of the lane even as the road curved. Yep, he was definitely not human.

"I miss the sun. With the exception of last Friday the weather has been cloudy and gray and my clothes are like my own personal rebellion. If the skies won't part, I'll make my own sun," she replied resolutely, smiling at the slight ridiculousness of her statement.

Edward smiled too, silently loving her personal rebellion against Forks' weather. Just like yesterday, he once more felt overcome with an intense curiosity over this human girl he had only just met. "Favorite stone?"

"Topaz," she smirked, he smiled.

"Song?"

"The One I Love by R.E.M." she replied, giving him her favorite muggle song. It's not like she could tell him every single freaking song by the Hobgoblins was her own personal addiction but then, he wouldn't understand even if she could.

"Movie?"

"Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet. Leonardo Decaprio is the best!" she enthused, practically gushing over her favorite muggle celebrity as she remembered watching it early in the summer with Ginny and Hermione: tthey had all been salivating at the mouth over the hot hunk of an actor. Edward laughed and didn't get the chance to ask her anything else because they were already at the school.

"So Bells?" he asked, clearly still joking with her even as the nick name almost brought tears to her eyes, that was what her friends back home had always called her and the reminder was inexplicably painful.

"Yes Edward?" she asked in mock exasperation.

"How about we continue this conversation, say, over dinner or something in Port Angeles tomorrow?" he really didn't want to have to fake eating, but he was just so curious to find out more about the mystery that was Bella Swan that he found himself beyond caring.

"No, I have to cook dinner for Charlie, but as long as you have me back by seven and don't fill my stomach I'm sure we can hang out for a bit after school," she replied, mentally scolding herself. What was she thinking getting involved with a bloody vampire? She wasn't! She was supposed to be laying low, remaining inconspicuous and hiding from fucking Voldemort so she would be safe and _not_ putting her life in danger by going out on the town with a blood sucking man eater! And she knew her answer was a lie, but she really didn't want to face what could only turn out to be the most awkward dinner ever: Vampires don't eat! (well, at least not anything she would be content sharing)

"Sounds good," he said, the relief evident in his voice as he grabbed her books and walked her to her first class all the while trying his best to convince himself the only reason he was doing this was because he was curious and not because she was the most stunning woman he had ever seen and all he wanted to do was ravish her right then and there. This was not good.

School passed by at an agonizingly slow pace as Bella was forced to endure Jessica's mindless babble all the way through lunch and it was with far more relief than any sane person would have felt that Bella walked through the doors of Biology and took her seat next to Edward who had his nose in a book about psychology or some such. She took out her notebook and hastily wrote a note, it was her turn to get some answers, even if she couldn't ask the questions she most desperately wanted to.

Bella - _So what's your favorite color?_

Edward - _Blue_

Bella - _Favorite stone?_

Edward - _Onyx_

Bella - _Song?_

Edward - _Brown Eyed Girl… Van Morrison_

Bella - _Movie?_

Edward - _Dracula_

Bella couldn't help laughing at that. Edward was laughing too but he probably just assumed she found his choice funny when really she was bursting at the seams over the irony. She had already had to mentally keep herself in check after his answer of "Brown Eyed Girl" and this was just too much. She was almost falling out of her seat as she shook with mirth.

"Ms. Swan if you would be so kind as to answer my question please," the teacher stated, clearly not amused.

"Vacuole." Edward whispered from her side and she immediately repeated it much to the displeasure of their teacher.

"Thanks," she murmured, her voice barely audible but she knew he would hear.

"No problem," he replied, smirking at her with his crooked half smile that she was beginning to like just a little too much.

"You really are quite full of yourself," she admonished, her own Malfoy smirk firmly in place.

"You have no idea," was his only reply before they fell silent for the duration of the class. Just because they were no longer talking, however, did not mean she was able to pull her mind away from him. She felt drawn to him, as if he were a magnet and she a nail, and every so often she found herself stealing small glances only to look away the moment she caught his beautiful eyes. _Eyes that were not red_. That had to be a good thing right? She had been taught in Defense against the Dark Arts that their eyes were always red from the consumption of human blood so surely since his eyes were not red he couldn't be like all the monsters her books had told her of?

Once the bell rang he quickly gathered her books before she even had the chance and carried them out of the room, forcing her to follow.

"Ugh, you're such a prick!" Bella sighed in exasperation. She was perfectly capable of carrying her own books! She didn't need him and his obnoxious smile battering at her already crumbling self-control by being so bleeding _nice_.

"What's with all the British terms poppet? If it weren't for the lack of an accent I would have sworn you were a Brit! Prick, dunderhead, what's next? Bollocks?" he teased, his eyes alight with mirth.

"I'll have you know my mother is British," Bella returned, the lie rolling smoothly off her tongue, though she supposed that was because it wasn't really a lie. Her mother really was British, but then, so was she.

"Yet another mystery solved, thank ya love," he said with a smirk before handing her back her books and leaving her at the door to the gym, completely flabbergasted. 'Love?'

xXx

Okay what ever stupid ass muggle invented PE should be crucioed into madness and then pounded to death by his own dodge balls! Bella was getting more bruises than a pro wrestler and she was _not_ happy because even if she could hide them with a thought they still hurt! She was still nursing one of said bruises when she was met at the door of the gym by a concerned looking Edward that immediately sent a glare Newton's way to scare him off.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he took her books and she rifled for her keys only to remember she had hitched a ride with Edward.

"No I am not okay! Whoever the hell invented dodge ball needs to be roasted at the stake! It's complete bollocks! All people do is chase you around with ridiculous rubber balls while trying their best to HIT you! Not to mention the fact that my feet can't even be relied upon to carry me across a flat surface at the walk! How the hell am I supposed to dodge AND run at the same time! I swear Lauren Mallory what's-her-face hit me in the back of the head and I was about to punch her face in!" Bella protested, her voice escalating as she seethed. Poor Edward looked like he didn't know whether to fall into hysterics or run for his nonexistent life.

"Okay, I get it, you need to blow off some steam. Please don't kill my car?" he begged as she furiously slammed the door shut. They had been steadily crossing the parking lot as she ranted. As if that were the water to her fire, Bella immediately cooled, looking over at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, that got a bit out of hand."

"A bit," he conceded with a sly grin, starting the engine and zipping out of the parking lot. He was going way too fast for it to be legal but compared to the night bus it was nothing. Besides, he was a vampire; he had some amazing reflexes! Might as well use them for something!

In less than five minutes they were at her house and even though she knew she was being ridiculous, Bella really didn't want to get out of the car yet. Unfortunately when Edward opened the door for her she didn't have much of a choice.

"Thanks for the ride," she said with a small smile.

"Anytime. I'll see you tomorrow," he returned, his golden eyes blazing with warmth that did unfortunate things to her body.

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow," and she forced herself to look away and walk inside.

Bella could still feel the heat of his gaze on her back as she walked into her room and collapsed onto her bed, a smile the width of Washington spreading across her face as she turned on her stereo and grabbed her pajamas to start her nightly routine a few hours early. She took her shower and quickly brushed her teeth, throwing her hair up in a sloppy bun before pulling on her usual shorts and tank. Back in her room she still had not detected Edward's presence through the wards which turned out to be a very, very good thing because just then she was assaulted by a persistent tapping at her window.

Once opened, a huge gray owl burst through with a rather large package and immediately took off again without even a treat. "Well that was odd," she grumbled, opening the letter.

_Bella!_

_ Hey Bells! It's only been a day and I already miss you like mad! So today my family and I all went with Harry and Hermione to Diagon Alley for books and the like and Sirius and I found the coolest thing in one of the pawn shops! Apparently he and Harry have a pair and he and James used to. These things are so awesome because they are… drum roll please? TWO WAY MIRRORS! We can talk to each other at anytime from anywhere! This is going to be so cool and honestly it is so much better than trying to send letters VIA the International Owling Network! Besides, hadn't we just been complaining that Dumbledore would only let you receive and send one letter a week? Just say my name into the mirror when you're done reading and we can talk face to face!_

_All My love!_

_-Gin _

A smile wider than she had ever believed possible was lighting up her face as Bella hastily tore at the wrapping and pulled out an ornate bronze hand mirror, immediately calling for her friend. She was so happy she had to remind herself to breathe and it was such a relief Edward was obviously too busy to stalk her.

"Bells?" Ginny asked excitedly, her face appearing in the curious mirror.

"Ginny! This is so awesome! I was going insane without being able to get a hold of you! The mirrors are bloody brilliant!" she enthused, smiling happily at her best friend in the whole world.

"I know! I was getting worried one of the owls had gone astray or something but I guess this was the best I could hope for since they practically had to fly half way around the world! How are you?" the mirror Ginny asked.

"Oh you know me, just busy stirring up trouble, getting beat up by muggles with rubber balls and drooling over blood thirsty vampires. The usual, how are you?" she finished with a smirk. Oh yes, this was going to be good.

"Oh I'm all right… bored… wait, did you say 'vampires'? What is going on over there?" the fiery red-head demanded, concern coating her tone like phoenix fire.

"Apparently Forks is host to a whole coven of vampires! Isn't that so typical? I go to Forks to escape the dangers of the magical world and only manage to bury myself neck deep into a whole new set of problems."

"Shite Bells! And you fancy one? Do you have a death wish? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Ginny continued, her voice rising an octave with each new demand for answers.

"Gods Gin, chill, I made sure to morph my scent first, it's not like my blood is calling to them or anything. Besides, if dying is what it takes to get close to this guy I would die a thousand deaths just to kiss him. He is SO amazing! Besides, his coven reminds me so much of Remmy! They didn't choose to be what they are either and I can't honestly see them killing people when they work so hard to integrate into everyday society. Besides, their eyes aren't red. Something about them is definitely different and I intend to find out what that something is."

"Wow, Bella. Just… wow. Is there no end to your stupidity? No, don't answer that. I don't want to know. So putting aside the fact that he has fangs and all because that's just creepy, is he a good kisser?"

"I wouldn't know, I'm _trying _to be a good little witch and not go around flaunting my apparent death wish," she said, using her fingers to put quotations around the 'good little witch', "Besides, he's such a gentleman; It's so cute!"

"You have problems."

"And you're the best friend of someone with problems, so what does that say about you?"

"That I'm a saint, but that's beside the point."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, so how are things with Harry?"

"The usual. I try to get close, he pulls away and goes off on a tangent about how it's too dangerous. I kiss him senseless, he caves, and the whole process starts anew. You were right though, I'm glad I didn't wait," she said with a wicked grin.

"I told you! He was pining after you so often I had to blast the hobgoblins to drown out his pathetic sighs!"

"I bet! So how long have you known this vamp? You've only been there for like five days!"

"Not much, but he's a good man, I can tell."

"Oh yes, the infamous Bella intuition."

"Hey! I haven't been wrong in my judgment of character yet!"

"Whatever. Lots of love hun but it's late over on this side of the pond so I'm going to have to let you go," she said with a guilty yawn.

"That's okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye!"

Just like that their conversation was over and Ginny's freckled face was no longer looking back up at her but she felt infinitely better after even those short few minutes with her friend. She really, really missed her. Not five minutes after she turned her stereo on and started on her homework did the wards alert her to Edward's presence. She smiled. She had started to think he wasn't coming. For the most part she ignored him until right before she closed her eyes for the night.

"Good night Edward," she mumbled and quickly fell asleep.

**A/N:** I'll post again tomorrow! Please review, I love to hear from y'all! -A


	6. Chapter Five

**A/N: **Just letting you guys know this is pretty much (almost word for word) the events of the original Half Blood Prince Ch. 7 The Slug Club therefore I don't even own most of the words in this chapter with the small exception of the add ins and outtakes necessary for it to fit my story. So, even though I feel like I've cheated, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable characters, settings, and events from the Twilight and Harry Potter books and/or movies. Those rights belong to Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Five

"You'd better get straight on the train, all of you, you've only got a few minutes to go," said Mrs. Weasley, consulting her watch. "Well, have a lovely term, Ron…"

"Mr. Weasley, can I have a quick word?" said Harry, making up his mind on the spur of the moment.

"Of course," said Mr. Weasley, who looked slightly surprised, but followed Harry out of earshot of the others nevertheless.

Ever since their trip to Diagon Alley, Harry had burned with a fierce need to tell someone what they had seen. He had thought it through carefully and come to the conclusion that, if he was to tell anyone, Mr. Weasley was the right person; firstly, because he worked at the Ministry and was therefore in the best position to make further investigations, and secondly, because he thought that there was not too much risk of Mr. Weasley exploding with anger, but most of all because he wouldn't go running off with the information to Bella.

He could see Mrs. Weasley and the grim-faced Auror casting the pair of them suspicious looks as they moved away.

"When we were in Diagon Alley," Harry began, but Mr. Weasley forestalled him with a grimace.

"Am I about to discover where you, Ron, and Hermione disappeared to while you were supposed to be in the back room of Fred and George's shop?" Harry's eyebrows rose in shock.

"How did you…?" He tried to ask.

"Harry, please. You're talking to the man who raised Fred and George."

"Er… yeah, all right, we weren't in the back room."

"Very well, then, let's hear the worst."

"Well, we followed Draco Malfoy. We used my Invisibility Cloak."

"Did you have any particular reason for doing so, or was it a mere whim?"

"Because I thought Malfoy was up to something," said Harry, disregarding Mr. Weasley's look of mingled exasperation and amusement. "He'd given his mother the slip and I wanted to know why."

"Of course you did," said Mr. Weasley, sounding resigned. "Well? Did you find out why?"

"He went into Borgin and Burkes," said Harry, "and started bullying the bloke in there, Borgin, to help him fix something. And he said he wanted Borgin to keep something else for him. He made it sound like it was the same kind of thing that needed fixing. Like they were a pair. And…" Harry took a deep breath.

"There's something else. We saw Malfoy jump about a mile when Madam Malkin tried to touch his left arm. I think he's been branded with the Dark Mark. I think he's joined his father as a Death Eater."

"Harry, I know you don't like young Mr. Malfoy very much and that those feelings are very much reciprocated, but you know how much Bella cares for him. If that boy cares half so much for his sister as she does for him he would never follow in his father's footsteps."

"Thing is we don't really know him at all, who knows what he would or wouldn't do?" asked Harry angrily. "Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry, but isn't it worth investigating? If Malfoy wants something fixed, and he needs to threaten Borgin to get it done, it's probably something Dark or dangerous, isn't it?"

"I doubt it, to be honest, Harry," said Mr. Weasley slowly. "You see, when Lucius Malfoy was arrested, we raided his house. We took away everything that might have been dangerous."

"I think you missed something," said Harry stubbornly.

"Well, maybe," said Mr. Weasley, but Harry could tell that Mr. Weasley was humoring him.

There was a whistle behind them; nearly everyone had boarded the train and the doors were closing.

"You'd better hurry!" said Mr. Weasley, as Mrs. Weasley cried, "Harry, quickly!"

He hurried forward and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley helped him load his trunk onto the train.

"Now, dear, you're coming to us with Sirius for Christmas, it's all fixed with Dumbledore, so we'll see you quite soon," said Mrs. Weasley through the window, as Harry slammed the door shut behind him and the train began to move. "You make sure you look after yourself and…"

The train was gathering speed.

"… be good and…" She was jogging to keep up now.

"… stay safe!"

Harry waved until the train had turned a corner and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were lost to view, then turned to see where the others had got to. He supposed Ron and Hermione were cloistered in the prefects' carriage, but Ginny was a little way along the corridor, chatting to some friends. He made his way toward her, dragging his trunk.

People stared shamelessly as he approached. They even pressed their faces against the windows of their compartments to get a look at him. He had expected an upswing in the amount of gaping and gawping he would have to endure this term after all the "Chosen One" rumors in the Daily Prophet, but he did not enjoy the sensation of standing in a very bright spotlight. He tapped Ginny on the shoulder.

"Fancy trying to find a compartment?"

"I can't, Harry, I said I'd meet Dean to go over Transfigurations," said Ginny brightly, kissing him on the cheek. "See you later."

"Right," said Harry. He felt a strange twinge of annoyance as she walked away, her long red hair dancing behind her; he had become so used to her presence over the summer that he had almost forgotten that Ginny did not hang around with him, Ron, and Hermione while at school. Then he blinked and looked around: He was surrounded by mesmerized girls. Did they not just see that little display of affection? Or were they choosing to ignore it?

"Hi, Harry!" said a familiar voice from behind him.

"Neville!" said Harry in relief, turning to see a round-faced boy struggling toward him.

"Hello, Harry," said a girl with long hair and large misty eyes, who was just behind Neville.

"Luna, hi, how are you?"

"Very well, thank you," said Luna. She was clutching a magazine to her chest; large letters on the front announced that there was a pair of free Spectrespecs inside.

"Quibbler still going strong, then?" asked Harry, who felt a certain fondness for the magazine, having given it an exclusive interview the previous year.

"Oh yes, circulation's well up," said Luna happily.

"Let's find seats," said Harry, and the three of them set off along the train through hordes of silently staring students. At last they found an empty compartment, and Harry hurried inside gratefully.

"They're even staring at us?" said Neville, indicating himself and Luna. "Because we're with you!"

"They're staring at you because you were at the Ministry too," said Harry, as he hoisted his trunk into the luggage rack. "Our little adventure there was all over the Daily Prophet, you must've seen it."

"Yes, I thought Gran would be angry about all the publicity," said Neville, "but she was really pleased. Says I'm starting to live up to my dad at long last. She bought me a new wand, look!"

He pulled it out and showed it to Harry. "Cherry and unicorn hair," he said proudly. "We think it was one of the last Ollivander ever sold, he vanished next day… oy, come back here, Trevor!"

And he dived under the seat to retrieve his toad as it made one of its frequent bids for freedom.

"Are we still doing D.A. meetings this year, Harry?" asked Luna, who was detaching a pair of psychedelic spectacles from the middle of The Quibbler.

"No point now we've got rid of Umbridge, is there?" said Harry, sitting down. Neville bumped his head against the seat as he emerged from under it. He looked most disappointed.

"I liked the D.A.! I learned loads with you!"

"I enjoyed the meetings too," said Luna serenely. "It was like having friends."

This was one of those uncomfortable things Luna often said and which made Harry feel a squirming mixture of pity and embarrassment. Before he could respond, however, there was a disturbance outside their compartment door; a group of fourth-year girls was whispering and giggling together on the other side of the glass.

"You ask him!"

"No, you! "

"I'll do it!"

And one of them, a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed her way through the door.

"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane," she said loudly and confidently. "Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them," she added in a stage whisper, indicating Neville's bottom, which was sticking out from under the seat again as he groped around for Trevor, and Luna, who was now wearing her free Spectrespecs, which gave her the look of a demented, multicolored owl.

"They're friends of mine," said Harry coldly.

"Oh," said the girl, looking very surprised. "Oh. Okay."And she withdrew, sliding the door closed behind her.

"People expect you to have cooler friends than us," said Luna, once again displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty.

"You are cool," said Harry shortly. "None of them was at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me."

"That's a very nice thing to say," beamed Luna. Then she pushed her Spectrespecs farther up her nose and settled down to read The Quibbler.

"We didn't face him, though," said Neville, emerging from under the seat with fluff and dust in his hair and a resigned-looking Trevor in his hand. "You did. You should hear my gran talk about you. _'That Harry Potter's got more backbone than the whole Ministry of Magic put together!'_ She'd give anything to have you as a grandson…"

Harry laughed uncomfortably and changed the subject to OWL results as soon as he could while Neville recited his grades and wondered aloud whether he would be allowed to take a Transfiguration NEWT, with only an "Acceptable," Harry watched him without really listening.

Neville's childhood had been blighted by Voldemort just as much as Harry's had, but Neville had no idea how close he had come to having Harry's destiny. The prophecy could have referred to either of them, yet, for his own inscrutable reasons, Voldemort had chosen to believe that Harry was the one meant.

Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville sitting opposite Harry bearing the lightning-shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy… Or would it? Would Neville's mother have died to save him, as Lily had died for Harry? Surely she would… But what if she had been unable to stand between her son and Voldemort? Would there then have been no "Chosen One" at all? An empty seat where Neville now sat and a scarless Harry who would have been kissed good-bye by his own mother, not Ron's?

"You all right, Harry? You look funny," said Neville.

Harry started. "Sorry… I…"

"Wrackspurt got you?" asked Luna sympathetically, peering at Harry through her enormous colored spectacles.

"I… what?"

"A Wrackspurt… They're invisible. They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy," she said. "I thought I felt one zooming around in here." She flapped her hands at thin air, as though beating off large invisible moths. Harry and Neville caught each other's eyes and hastily began to talk of Quidditch.

The weather beyond the train windows was as patchy as it had been all summer; they passed through stretches of the chilling mist, then out into weak, clear sunlight. It was during one of the clear spells, when the sun was visible almost directly overhead, that Ron and Hermione entered the compartment at last.

"Wish the lunch trolley would hurry up, I'm starving," said Ron longingly, slumping into the seat beside Harry and rubbing his stomach. "Hi, Neville. Hi, Luna. Guess what?" he added, turning to Harry. "Malfoys not doing prefect duty. He's just sitting in his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw him when we passed."

Harry sat up straight, interested. It was not like Malfoy to pass up the chance to demonstrate his power as prefect, which he had happily abused all the previous year.

"What did he do when he saw you?"

"The usual," said Ron indifferently, demonstrating a rude hand gesture. "Not like him, though, is it? Well… that is"— he did the hand gesture again — "but why isn't he out there bullying first years?"

"Dunno," said Harry, but his mind was racing. Didn't this look as though Malfoy had more important things on his mind than bullying younger students?

"Maybe he preferred the Inquisitorial Squad," said Hermione. "Maybe being a prefect seems a bit tame after that."

"I don't think so," said Harry. "I think he's —"

But before he could expound on his theory, the compartment door slid open again and a breathless third-year girl stepped inside.

"I'm supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom and Harry P-Potter," she faltered, as her eyes met Harry's and she turned scarlet. She was holding out two scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon. Perplexed, Harry and Neville took the scroll addressed to each of them and the girl stumbled back out of the compartment.

"What is it?" Ron demanded, as Harry unrolled his.

"An invitation," said Harry.

_Harry,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor H. E. F. Slughorn_

"But what does he want me for?" asked Neville nervously, as though he was expecting detention.

"No idea," said Harry, which was not entirely true, though he had no proof yet that his hunch was correct. "Listen," he added, seized by a sudden brain wave, "let's go under the Invisibility Cloak, then we might get a good look at Malfoy on the way, see what he's up to."

This idea, however, came to nothing: The corridors, which were packed with people on the lookout for the lunch trolley, were impossible to negotiate while wearing the cloak. Harry stowed it regretfully back in his bag, reflecting that it would have been nice to wear it just to avoid all the staring, which seemed to have increased in intensity even since he had last walked down the train. Every now and then, students would hurtle out of their compartments to get a better look at him. The exception was Cho Chang, who darted into her compartment when she saw Harry coming. As Harry passed the window, he saw her deep in determined conversation with her friend Marietta, who was wearing a very thick layer of makeup that did not entirely obscure the odd formation of pimples still etched across her face. Smirking slightly, Harry pushed on.

When they reached compartment C, they saw at once that they were not Slughorn's only invitees, although judging by the enthusiasm of Slughorn's welcome, Harry was the most warmly anticipated.

"Harry, m'boy!" said Slughorn, jumping up at the sight of him so that his great velvet-covered belly seemed to fill all the remaining space in the compartment. His shiny bald head and great silvery mustache gleamed as brightly in the sunlight as the golden buttons on his waistcoat. "Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!"

Neville nodded, looking scared. At a gesture from Slughorn, they sat down opposite each other in the only two empty seats, which were nearest the door. Harry glanced around at their fellow guests. He recognized a Slytherin from their year, a tall black haired boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes; there were also two seventh-year boys Harry did not know and, squashed in the corner beside Slughorn and looking as though she was not entirely sure how she had got there, Ginny. He shot her a supportive smile.

"Now, do you know everyone?" Slughorn asked Harry and Neville. "Blaise Zabini is in your year, of course —"

Zabini did not make any sign of recognition or greeting, nor did Harry or Neville: Gryffindor and Slytherin students loathed each other on principle.

"This is Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you've come across each other —? No?"

McLaggen, a large, wiry-haired youth, raised a hand, and Harry and Neville nodded back at him.

"—and this is Marcus Belby, I don't know whether —?"

Belby, who was thin and nervous-looking, gave a strained smile.

"— and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!" Slughorn finished.

Ginny grimaced at Harry and Neville from behind Slughorn's back.

"Well now, this is most pleasant," said Slughorn cozily. "A chance to get to know you all a little better. Here, take a napkin. I've packed my own lunch; the trolley, as I remember it, is heavy on licorice wands, and a poor old man's digestive system isn't quite up to such things… Pheasant, Belby?"

Belby started and accepted what looked like half a cold pheasant.

"I was just telling young Marcus here that I had the pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles," Slughorn told Harry and Neville, now passing around a basket of rolls. "Outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his Order of Merlin most well-deserved. Do you see much of your uncle, Marcus?"

Unfortunately, Belby had just taken a large mouthful of pheasant; in his haste to answer Slughorn he swallowed too fast, turned purple, and began to choke.

"_Anapneo_," said Slughorn calmly, pointing his wand at Belby, whose airway seemed to clear at once.

"Not… not much of him, no," gasped Belby, his eyes streaming.

"Well, of course, I daresay he's busy," said Slughorn, looking questioningly at Belby. "I doubt he invented the Wolfsbane Potion without considerable hard work!"

"I suppose…" said Belby, who seemed afraid to take another bite of pheasant until he was sure that Slughorn had finished with him. "Er… he and my dad don't get on very well, you see, so I don't really know much about…" His voice tailed away as Slughorn gave him a cold smile and turned to McLaggen instead.

"Now, you, Cormac," said Slughorn, "I happen to know you see a lot of your Uncle Tiberius, because he has a rather splendid picture of the two of you hunting nogtails in, I think, Norfolk?"

"Oh, yeah, that was fun, that was," said McLaggen. "We went with Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour; this was before he became Minister, obviously —"

"Ah, you know Bertie and Rufus too?" beamed Slughorn, now offering around a small tray of pies; somehow, Belby was missed out. "Now tell me…"

It was as Harry had suspected. Everyone here seemed to have been invited because they were connected to somebody well-known or influential — everyone except Ginny, but then Harry supposed news of their relationship could have gotten out already. Zabini, who was interrogated after McLaggen, turned out to have a famously beautiful witch for a mother (from what Harry could make out, she had been married seven times, each of her husbands dying mysteriously and leaving her mounds of gold).

It was Neville's turn next: This was a very uncomfortable ten minutes, for Neville's parents, well-known Aurors, had been tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and a couple of Death Eater cronies. At the end of Neville's interview, Harry had the impression that Slughorn was reserving judgment on Neville, yet to see whether he had any of his parents' flair.

"And now," said Slughorn, shifting massively in his seat with the air of a compere introducing his star act. "Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer!" He contemplated Harry for a moment as though he was a particularly large and succulent piece of pheasant, then said, "'The Chosen One,' they're calling you now!"

Harry said nothing. Belby, McLaggen, and Zabini were all staring at him.

"Of course," said Slughorn, watching Harry closely, "there have been rumors for years… I remember when… well — after that terrible night — Lily — James — and you survived — and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary —"

Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused skepticism. An angry voice burst out from behind Slughorn.

"Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented… at posing…"

"Oh dear!" chuckled Slughorn comfortably, looking around at Ginny, who was glaring at Zabini around Slughorn's great belly. "You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"

Zabini merely looked contemptuous.

"Anyway," said Slughorn, turning back to Harry. "Such rumors this summer. Of course, one doesn't know what to believe, the Prophet has been known to print inaccuracies, make mistakes — but there seems little doubt, given the number of witnesses, that there was quite a disturbance at the Ministry and that you were there in the thick of it all!"

Harry, who could not see any way out of this without flatly lying, nodded but still said nothing. Slughorn beamed at him.

"So modest, so modest, no wonder Dumbledore is so fond — you were there, then? But the rest of the stories — so sensational, of course, one doesn't know quite what to believe — this fabled prophecy, for instance —"

"We never heard a prophecy," said Neville, turning geranium pink as he said it.

"That's right," said Ginny staunchly. "Neville and I were both there too, and all this 'Chosen One' rubbish is just the Prophet making things up as usual."

"You were both there too, were you?" said Slughorn with great interest, looking from Ginny to Neville, but both of them sat clam-like before his encouraging smile.

"Yes… well… it is true that the Prophet often exaggerates, of course…" Slughorn said, sounding a little disappointed. "I remember dear Gwenog telling me (Gwenog Jones, I mean, of course, Captain of the Holyhead Harpies) —"

He meandered off into a long-winded reminiscence, but Harry had the distinct impression that Slughorn had not finished with him, and that he had not been convinced by Neville and Ginny.

The afternoon wore on with more anecdotes about illustrious wizards Slughorn had taught, all of whom had been delighted to join what he called the "Slug Club" at Hogwarts. Harry could not wait to leave, but couldn't see how to do so politely. Finally the train emerged from yet another long misty stretch into a red sunset, and Slughorn looked around, blinking in the twilight.

"Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen, you must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails. Harry, Blaise — any time you're passing. Same goes for you, miss," he twinkled at Ginny. "Well, off you go, off you go!"

As he pushed past Harry into the darkening corridor, Zabini shot him a filthy look that Harry returned with interest. He, Ginny, and Neville followed Zabini back along the train.

"I'm glad that's over," muttered Neville. "Strange man, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is a bit," said Harry, his eyes on Zabini. "How come you ended up in there, Ginny?"

"He saw me hex Zacharias Smith," said Ginny. "You remember that idiot from Hufflepuff who was in the D.A.? He kept on and on asking about what happened at the Ministry and in the end he annoyed me so much I hexed him — when Slughorn came in I thought I was going to get detention, but he just thought it was a really good hex and invited me to lunch! Mad, eh?"

"Better reason for inviting someone than because their mother's famous," said Harry, scowling at the back of Zabini's head, "or because their uncle —"

But he broke off. An idea had just occurred to him, a reckless but potentially wonderful idea… In a minute's time, Zabini was going to reenter the Slytherin sixth-year compartment and Malfoy would be sitting there, thinking himself unheard by anybody except fellow Slytherins… If Harry could only enter, unseen, behind him, what might he not see or hear? True, there was little of the journey left… Hogsmeade Station had to be less than half an hour away, judging by the wildness of the scenery flashing by the windows… but nobody else seemed prepared to take Harry's suspicions seriously, so it was down to him to prove them.

"I'll see you two later," said Harry under his breath, pulling out his Invisibility Cloak and flinging it over himself.

"But what're you —?" asked Neville.

"Later!" whispered Harry, darting after Zabini as quietly as possible, though the rattling of the train made such caution almost pointless.

The corridors were almost completely empty now. Nearly everyone had returned to their carriages to change into their school robes and pack up their possessions. Though he was as close as he could get to Zabini without touching him, Harry was not quick enough to slip into the compartment when Zabini opened the door. Zabini was already sliding it shut when Harry hastily stuck out his foot to prevent it closing.

"What's wrong with this thing?" said Zabini angrily as he smashed the sliding door repeatedly into Harry's foot.

Harry seized the door and pushed it open, hard; Zabini, still clinging on to the handle, toppled over sideways into Gregory Goyle's lap, and in the ensuing ruckus, Harry darted into the compartment, leapt onto Zabini's temporarily empty seat, and hoisted himself up into the luggage rack. It was fortunate that Goyle and Zabini were snarling at each other, drawing all eyes onto them, for Harry was quite sure his feet and ankles had been revealed as the cloak had flapped around them; indeed, for one horrible moment he thought he saw Malfoy's eyes follow his trainer as it whipped upward out of sight. But then Goyle slammed the door shut and flung Zabini off him; Zabini collapsed into his own seat looking ruffled, Vincent Crabbe returned to his comic, and Malfoy, sniggering, lay back down across two seats with his head in Pansy Parkinsons lap. Harry lay curled uncomfortably under the cloak to ensure that every inch of him remained hidden, and watched Pansy stroke the sleek blond hair off Malfoy's forehead, smirking as she did so, as though anyone would have loved to have been in her place. The lanterns swinging from the carriage ceiling cast a bright light over the scene: Harry could read every word of Crabbe's comic directly below him.

"So, Zabini," said Malfoy, "what did Slughorn want?"

"Just trying to make up to well-connected people," said Zabini, who was still glowering at Goyle. "Not that he managed to find many."

This information did not seem to please Malfoy. "Who else had he invited?" he demanded.

"McLaggen from Gryffindor," said Zabini.

"Oh yeah, his uncle's big in the Ministry," said Malfoy.

"— someone else called Belby, from Ravenclaw…"

"Not him, he's a prat!" said Pansy.

"— and Longbottom, Potter, and that Weasley girl," finished Zabini.

Malfoy sat up very suddenly, knocking Pansy's hand aside.

"He invited Longbottom?"

"Well, I assume so, as Longbottom was there," said Zabini indifferently.

"What's Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?" Zabini shrugged.

"Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at 'the Chosen One,'" sneered Malfoy, "but that Weasley girl! What's so special about her?"

"A lot of boys like her," said Pansy, watching Malfoy out of the corner of her eyes for his reaction. "Even you think she's good-looking, don't you, Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please!

"I wouldn't touch a filthy little blood traitor like her whatever she looked like," said Zabini coldly, and Pansy looked pleased. Malfoy sank back across her lap and allowed her to resume the stroking of his hair.

"Well, I pity Slughorn's taste. Maybe he's going a bit senile. Shame, my father always said he was a good wizard in his day. My father used to be a bit of a favorite of his. Slughorn probably hasn't heard I'm on the train, or —"

"I wouldn't bank on an invitation," said Zabini. "He asked me about Notts father when I first arrived. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard he'd been caught at the Ministry he didn't look happy, and Nott didn't get an invitation, did he? I don't think Slughorn's interested in Death Eaters." There was something odd in the way Zabini watched Malfoy, with an expression that spoke of hurt but that didn't make sense.

"Well, who cares what he's interested in? What is he, when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher." Malfoy yawned ostentatiously. "I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"

"What do you mean, you might not be at Hogwarts next year?" said Pansy indignantly, ceasing grooming Malfoy at once.

Malfoy's face went momentarily dark before he shrugged noncommittally and plowed on. "Sometimes life gets in the way."

Crouched in the luggage rack under his cloak, Harry's heart began to race. What would Ron and Hermione say about this? Crabbe and Goyle were gawping at Malfoy; apparently they had had no inkling of any plans to move on to bigger and better things. Even Zabini had allowed a look of curiosity to mar his haughty features. Pansy resumed the slow stroking of Malfoy s hair, looking dumbfounded.

"Do you mean — Him?"

Malfoy shrugged.

Crabbe and Goyle were both sitting with their mouths open like gargoyles. Pansy was gazing down at Malfoy as though she had never seen anything so awe-inspiring.

"I can see Hogwarts," said Malfoy, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. "We'd better get our robes on."

Harry was so busy staring at Malfoy, he did not notice Goyle reaching up for his trunk; as he swung it down, it hit Harry hard on the side of the head. He let out an involuntary gasp of pain, and Malfoy looked up at the luggage rack, frowning.

Harry was not afraid of Malfoy, but he still did not much like the idea of being discovered hiding under his Invisibility Cloak by a group of unfriendly Slytherins. Eyes still watering and head still throbbing, he drew his wand, careful not to disarrange the cloak, and waited, breath held. To his relief, Malfoy seemed to decide that he had imagined the noise; he pulled on his robes like the others, locked his trunk, and as the train slowed to a jerky crawl, fastened a thick new traveling cloak round his neck.

Harry could see the corridors filling up again and hoped that Hermione and Ron would take his things out onto the platform for him; he was stuck where he was until the compartment had quite emptied. At last, with a final lurch, the train came to a complete halt. Goyle threw the door open and muscled his way out into a crowd of second years, punching them aside; Crabbe and Zabini followed.

Now Harry and Malfoy were alone in the compartment. People were filing past, descending onto the dark platform. Malfoy moved over to the compartment door and let down the blinds, so that people in the corridor beyond could not peer in. He then bent down over his trunk and opened it again.

Harry peered down over the edge of the luggage rack, his heart pumping a little faster. What had Malfoy wanted to hide from the other Slytherines? Was he about to see the mysterious broken object it was so important to mend?

"_Petrificus Totalus_!"

Without warning, Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry, who was instantly paralyzed. As though in slow motion, he toppled out of the luggage rack and fell, with an agonizing, floor-shaking crash, at Malfoy's feet, the Invisibility Cloak trapped beneath him, his whole body revealed with his legs still curled absurdly into the cramped kneeling position. He couldn't move a muscle; he could only gaze up at Malfoy, who smiled broadly.

"I thought so," he said jubilantly. "I heard Goyle's trunk hit you. And I thought I saw something white flash through the air after Blaise came back…"

His eyes lingered for a moment upon Harry's trainers.

"You didn't hear anything I care about, Potter. But while I've got you here…"

And he stamped, hard, on Harry's face. Harry felt his nose break; blood spurted everywhere.

"That's for my sister. She wouldn't be in so much danger if it weren't for you. Now, let's see…"

Malfoy dragged the cloak out from under Harry's immobilized body and threw it over him. "I don't reckon they'll find you till the trains back in London," he said quietly. "See you around, Potter… or not." And taking care to tread on Harry's fingers, Malfoy left the compartment.

**A/N: **Once again a big THANK YOU to Cadence for sticking with me! I also want to thank Ruler of all Evil for yet another heartwarming review! You guys make me want to keep writing! Please review! –A

**P.S. **This is going to be the last update for a few weeks because I will be living it up with the Aussies! Enjoy! I'll update when I get back!-A


	7. Chapter Six

**A/N: **I'm BAAAAAACK lol (please note that that phrase is to be sung in a creepy I love Lucy parody and in no way is supposed to sound reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable characters, settings, and events from the Twilight and Harry Potter books and/or movies. Those rights belong to Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling.

**Warning**: slash lemon in this chapter. If this is not something you care to read then either stop now or do not read that part lol

**A/N(2): **On a lighter note thanks to this chapter (which snuck it's way in here because it was NOT in my original outline) I now have a whole new appreciation for slash writers who successfully handle the whole he/he confusion! I'm not really sure if I succeeded but I sincerely hope so! (especially since this is the first lemon I've ever written and as a female I have no way of speaking from experience lol)

Chapter Six

Draco tried really, really hard _not _to smirk as he made his way out of the train car and failed. The look on Potter's face had been priceless! What his sister saw in golden boy, he would never know. He certainly knew that she wasn't the type to hero worship. Malfoys _never _hero worship. Although apparently the last two generations found it lordly enough to grovel. After seeing first-hand what transpired in the Dark Lord's little club, whatever respect Draco still had left for his father and his fellow Death Eaters had withered and died like devil's snare in sunlight.

"Someone's pleased with himself," Blaise said from outside the train as Draco descended the last few steps. Draco stiffened and tried not to stare. He had been avoiding Blaise since the end of term and for good reason. Unfortunately Draco's eyes decided to listen even worse that the muscles of his face and he eyed his best friend as circumspectly as possible. What he saw made him swallow. Flawless pale skin slightly flushed with excitement pulled Blaise's lips into a smile with almost black hair and eyes contrasting his complexion. He had grown over the summer, now standing an inch or so taller than Draco and his features had sharpened as his face left behind the softness of adolescence. He was perfect. Striking. And Draco shouldn't be having these thoughts.

"Yeah," the blond returned, the smirk falling from his face as he plowed determinedly through a gaggle of first years to claim an empty carriage. Unfortunately, Blaise followed. At least he didn't say anything.

At least at the welcoming feast Draco had the extreme pleasure of watching Potter caper in completely devoid of his usual haughty saunter and sit down at the Gryffindor table only to be fawned over by that obnoxious mudblood and her weasel. It really was beyond entertaining to see his face match Weasley's hair in embarrassment. It really was unfortunate when the mudblood managed to heal him and the first years came in to be sorted, but alas all good things must come to an end.

Draco spent the rest of the feast thoroughly ignoring Blaise and responding with curt, monosyllabic answers when completely necessary to avoid suspicion. The whole meal Potter stared at him in thick-witted confusion tinged with the usual hatred and that almost made the awkward arrangement bearable, but not quite. Once the pudding was served and Dumbledore made another of his nonsensical and obnoxious announcements, Draco gladly seized the excuse of escorting first years to get as far away from his agitated best friend as possible.

"Slytherin first years!" Pansy called from the end of the table, trusting Draco to bring up the rear and watch for stragglers.

"Yes well, my father says Dumbledore's a fool," one of the new Slytherins, a boy who Draco vaguely recognized from a few ministry functions, said haughtily to the petite blond beside him who was obviously more interested in studying her pink nails than whatever her would-be companion wanted to say. Draco sneered. He had never been so repugnant. Honestly, the first years got increasingly worse with every year that passed.

"Silence," Pansy commanded from the head of the line in a voice that Draco's mother would have been proud of and the line fell silent immediately. _Good, they_ should _be intimidated, _Draco mused inwardly, trading his sneer for a smirk.

It was a long ways down to the dungeon, but Draco didn't exactly mind. His mind certainly hadn't suffered a lack of plots in need of planning and consideration sense his branding; he did his best not to shudder at the thought and was glad when for once that evening he seemed to succeed. He would have to talk to Dumbledore no matter how distasteful that seemed if he wanted information on his sister and he would need to offer enough information to win the old fool's trust.

"_Superbia de Terra,"_ Pansy stated without explanation. Anyone who couldn't figure out that that was the password didn't deserve to enter as far as she was concerned and Draco found himself agreeing with her. Slytherins don't baby their first years. They were old enough to learn how to survive on their own or they wouldn't be at school.

Draco had barely stepped foot into the common room when Blaise's burning gaze stopped him in his tracks.

"We need to talk," the brunette demanded and Draco nodded his assent. Silently, the duo made for the room they had shared since they were first years and Draco loosened his tie. If this was to be the confrontation he had been expecting since before their OWLs then he wanted to at least be comfortable.

"Have I done something wrong?" Blaise asked, the thickness in his voice and misery in his gaze catching Draco completely off guard. Yelling, he had expected. Frustration and rage and betrayal he had been prepared for, but not this. Not in any of the hundred ways this argument had played out in Draco's head was his best friend close to tears.

"What? No! Of course not! That's not it at all," the blond returned, reeling. He didn't want to talk about this. He couldn't. But faced with Blaise's true reaction to Draco's separation he found himself unable to spout one of the many lies he had spent the summer planning.

His chest ached as his own eyes clouded and Draco hated what he had to say next but it was unavoidable. The Zabinis were a proud family and had remained in neutral contempt of those who bowed at Voldemort's feet during the first war and even if Blaise could have returned his feelings Draco knew the time for that had gone completely with his branding. After today Blaise wasn't even going to be able to look at him without a contemptuous sneer and that more than anything was going to break him.

"Then what is it? Do you not want to be my friend anymore or something? Am I no longer good enough for you? Well?" Blaise paused to wipe away the few tears that had completely escaped his control, "what is it?"

"No! That's not it either! That's never it! Merlin Blaise I could never hate you, but you're right. I don't want to be your friend anymore-"

Blaise's enraged shriek made him glad for the silencing wards as Draco dodged the brunette's shoe.

"No! Not like that! I mean… I just… I want to be more than you're friend all right?" Draco finished, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he pretended to study the floor to avoid having to watch the surprised disgust he knew would be coloring his friend's face. Instead, his study was interrupted by the presence of two pale feet entering his line of sight even as cool fingers forcefully lifted his chin.

"You mean it?" Blaise asked with an emotion Draco could only name as hope in his eyes. The expression made his heart stop as he forced his face to look away at the wall over his friend's shoulder. It would have been so much easier if Blaise could have felt that disgust after all because now Draco was faced with the fact that it could have been different. If he could have avoided taking the mark, he might have had a chance. The bitterness chocked his throat but he managed to force out the rest.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter. You won't even want to look at me once you've seen what I've become," the blond despaired, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he rolled up his robe sleeve where it had formerly covered his left arm. "I didn't want to," Draco chocked, "I could care less about his threats towards father after what he's done, but I need to help Bella. I'm all she's got left and as a result I'm forced to bow at the feet of a wizard who's barely even still a man. I- I killed for him, Blaise. I killed a little girl," and now the tears really were falling as he closed his eyes tightly in shame and self-loathing over his admission, waiting for the punch or shove and disgusted rage that were sure to follow. Instead, Blaise held his chin more firmly and spoke:

"Draco? Draco, look at me," he commanded in a voice that was a surprising and strange cross of compassion and firm determination.

Reluctantly but unable to fight back the hope that flooded his chest, Draco complied. Barely a foot in front of him, Blaise was staring with his eyes filled with even more compassion than his voice and a tenderness that Draco couldn't understand as he grasped Draco's raised and uncovered left arm and placed a gentle kiss on the raw brand. Draco hissed slightly I pain but couldn't look away as Blaise stepped closer.

"You silly, silly boy. Don't you know how I love you?" Blaise stated, his eyes mirroring his words. "What you did took courage of a sort no Gryffindor could understand. I know you would never kill anyone for sport or bow to a madman willingly. Don't you realize by now that I know you better than anyone?" and Draco didn't get the chance to respond as Blaise pressed his lips firmly against his own and pulled him close.

Draco's heart started again, thundering in his chest like a heard of wild hippogriffs as his mind desperately tried to process the abrupt turn of events through the cloud of hazy emotion inspired by the warm lips that were warring with his own. Suddenly, the pair found themselves quite grateful to the many donations Slytherin families had given the school that resulted in paired dorming rather than the communal living in the other three houses.

"I love you," Draco began between kisses. "I love… you so… so much."

"Shut up," Blaise demanded hungrily and pressed him back against the wall, but he was smiling like a fool into the kiss. He had wanted to hear that, perhaps needed to, but now he would rather the blond just shut up and put his mouth to better use.

The slight fog in Draco's thoughts thickened as Blaise's lips left his mouth and trailed burning kisses along his jaw before nipping gently at Draco's neck in a way that had the blond arching hungrily into him, needing to feel more. Draco's hands blazed a desperate trail up Blaise's back beneath his robes as he eagerly explored the taught muscles that had so recently been taboo to take in. He had wanted this for so long, needed this for so long, and the desperation lent a swiftness to his fingers that had the other boy's robe buttons completely undone and sliding off his shoulders in less time than he had thought possible.

Deciding he's had enough of being pressed against the wall when there were two perfectly good beds in the same room, Draco pushed Blaise firmly to the nearest one, keeping their lips locked as the brunette laid back on the mattress. Soft sheets replaced Draco's hands on Blaise's back while Draco gently explored the planes of his partner's chest and Blaise returned the favor by divesting him of his robes, a task which proved to be almost impossible as Draco's lips and tongue dipped beneath his collar bone and grazed over a nipple.

"Fuck that," Blaise stated, summoning his wand and removing the rest of Draco's robes with a spell. "now where were we?" and neither of them bothered to answer through their twined lips.

Fire. The world was fire as far as Draco was concerned and it was such a welcome contrast to the ice he lived in, a world of cold expressions and stone walls and voices void of all emotion. There was warmth in the way Blaise pawed hungrily at his chest and rocked his hips upward to meet Draco's reckless thrusts. Neither of them had any idea what exactly they were doing but at that point both were beyond caring. There was heat in the desperate, breathy moans that Blaise emitted with each new sensitive space discovered by Draco's roving fingers and tongue and oh how appropriate his name seemed in that moment. Blaise. Heat. Warmth. Raw, unbridled and wild emotion that showed in his eyes and voice and the gentleness of his demanding gestures. It was consuming, overwhelming, and all Draco could think was that he wanted _more._ He wanted _everything. _

Mere moments had passed since their migration from the wall to the bed but the barrier of trousers was still too much and those were the next item of clothing to fall victim to Blaise's vanishing spells as Draco's hands traveled lower and he stroked Blaise through his remaining pants earning a rough grunt of appreciation that was cut off when Draco ground his hips into his hands and Blaise's cock and the mattress beneath them.

"Oh fuck!" the brunette shouted and Draco silently agreed before capturing his partner's vulgar mouth in a searing kiss that was completely without restraint or any real skill because neither could think beyond the heat and the friction and Draco's hips as he pounded them again and again in search of friction and release until Blaise flipped them over and kissed a heated trail down his jaw, nipping and sucking the skin as he went, pausing to pay special attention to Draco's collar bone before trailing lower, teasing each nipple and tracing the waistband of his pants before slipping them away and taking him into his mouth

Draco whimpered something completely intelligible in a breathy tone that he would no doubt refuse to claim later as black spots momentarily filled his vision and the automatic thrust he had aimed at Blaise's throat was stilled by the brunette's hands pinning his hips to the mattress and hollowing his cheeks in a way that made Draco's balls clench, semen exploding from his head after an embarrassingly short period of a few seconds only to moan embarrassingly _again _just moments later when Blaise's lips traveled lower and spread a smooth mixture of what had to cum and spit across his arsehole with a heated tongue that was making him hard _again_ and his muscles felt like butter but the last thing in the world he wanted was for this torture to stop.

"Ungh, Merlin Blaise!" he groaned desperately, pulling the other boy up by the hair and colliding their mouths. He could still taste the salty remnants of his own cum and he was nervous beyond anything he would ever willingly admit but he was going to go insane if Blaise kept _toying _with him. "Just fuck me already!" and Blaise complied and he screamed because it hurt like hell but it was nothing compared to _crucio_ or the branding of his arm and he just needed to be _closer _so he nodded his head and Blaise began to move and pain collided with pleasure and once more he was painfully hard in spite of just being sucked off. But that was okay because at another whimper from Draco, Blaise wrapped one had around Draco's cock and balanced with the other as he thrusted, hand working to the same rhythm as his hips, every so often thrusting deep enough to slam against the blond's prostate and send a fresh wave of pleasure rolling through his body.

"Fuck!" Blaise exclaimed as his thrusts came faster and faster, head lolling off to one side and eyes closed in pleasure. Draco groaned in response, lifting his hips desperately in search of more friction, all pain forgotten as he was overcome by the sensation of Blaise's pounding and stroking and the brunette's beautifully tortured expression in the moments before he shouted one last "Draco!" and the world exploded in time with their release before Draco captured his lips and he Blaise slid slowly out to lay beside him, both too exhausted to think of spelling the sheets clean before they fell asleep.

xXx

The next morning Draco was almost convinced he was still dreaming when a pair of warm lips skipped feather light over his jaw and over his cheeks before landing on his own waiting mouth and kissing him softly.

"Amore buongiorno, come hai dormito?" (Good morning love, how did you sleep?) he murmured in lazy italia as he opened his eyes to smile at his lover. That certainly beat waking spells.

"Meravigliosamente con te al mio fianco" (wonderfully with you by my side) Blaise returned, his voice as soft as his kisses. A towel was wrapped around his waist and his hair was still wet from his shower. It took all of Draco's self-control to break away and take his own. They would miss breakfast completely if he started anything now. And so it was that perhaps thirty minutes later both he and Blaise left their dorm with carefully controlled expressions… or so they thought.

"Well finally!" Millicent exclaimed from the common room while Pansy pouted and Vince collected from Greg. "took the two of you long enough!"

"Pardon?" Blaise said from Draco's shoulder, allowing some of the confusion he was feeling to show in his features.

"Oh don't play coy Blaise, the two of you have been pining after each other for years," Millie replied, raising an eyebrow before turning abruptly for the common room door. Draco was dumbfounded. How was it that he was always the last to know about things like this? From what he could tell at the end of last year Blaise had a thing for that Greengrass girl he was tutoring! But then, knowing what he did now he realized that was probably just his possessiveness that had led him to see something there that was more than just a casual friendship. Instead of letting his insecurity, Draco placed a smirk on his face and wrapped an arm casually around Blaise's waist.

"I'd rather not be late for breakfast," the blond chose to state casually and the rest of their walk to the great hall was markedly uneventful. When they reached the double doors Draco made to drop his arm but stopped when Blaise pulled him more firmly into his side and sent him a look that seemed to say 'let them stare, I've nothing to hide' and Draco felt his chest warm at the thought. Slytherins weren't typically a lot known for openness of emotion but he could allow himself this at least. He would just think of it for what it was: a proclamation and a mark of ownership. Blaise belonged to him now, and Draco belonged to Blaise but most importantly: they belonged with each other.

More than a few gazes followed them as they took their usual seats at Slytherin table, perhaps sitting a little closer together than usual, mayhaps sending a few more heated glances sideways as they ate. Overall their little display was taken with silent, somewhat surprised acceptance but it was no more eventful than that. Only Harry continued to stare after those first few minutes of silence, his gaze curious and more than a little suspicious before Weaslette pulled his attention back to their little group of friends. Draco shrugged, he could care less what potter thought of his little speech the other day. No doubt he would take it to mean Draco had taken the mark though he was undoubtedly too stupid to catch the hint but that was okay too. Draco's business was with Dumbledore.

Time passed uneventfully and soon enough Professor Snape was passing out timetables while the plates cleared and Draco took a second to glance over his own before standing with the rest of his year-mates and exiting the hall. Blaise was once more at his side and it took little effort to reach out and stop him in the corridor, the others continuing on towards class without noticing the loss.

"I need to do something first," he stated, giving Blaise's hand a squeeze but staying put.

"Are you sure about this?" Blaise implored, looking more concerned than Draco considered strictly necessary.

"Yes, I'm sure. This is something that I need to do," Draco assured, making to pull his hand away but unable to do so when Blaise used it to pull him close and kiss him fiercely.

"I'm proud of you," Blaise stated simply but intensely, his eyes echoing his statement before he turned and hurried down the hall so as not to be late for Transfiguration. With his lips still heated by the lingering shock of Blaise's kiss, Draco turned the opposite direction and made for the headmaster's office.

"jolly pop," Draco murmured upon reaching the gryphon, thankful for the list of passwords given to prefects that allowed them to get in touch with the headmaster at any time.

"Come in," the headmaster stated jovially from his office when Draco nocked. "Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you Headmaster," Draco declined politely, taking a seat in the chair before the headmaster's desk.

"May I ask the reason for this rather unexpected visit?" the too-happy old man asked once he was settled, eyes twinkling in a way that Draco found rather disconcerting and made him want to itch the skin of his arms.

"I thought you should know that your potions master is a spy," the blond stated confidently, already having reconciled himself with what he would have to do to gain the old fool's trust and protect his sister. "We have certain… friends… in common. Friends who would like to see you fall."

"Oh?" the headmaster stated, the twinkle fleeing his eyes most satisfactorily.

"Yes. Don't take this the wrong way headmaster, I'm not out to save all your precious little mubloods but I _do _care about my sister. There are things I know that could benefit her protection and if my providing of certain information can in any way help to make sure you keep her safe in return then I am prepared to give it. My loyalty is with her."

"Yes well, I assure you I am doing everything in my power to keep her safe. It is one of my topmost priorities," the old man insured gravely. Perhaps he wasn't such a fool after all. Draco nodded.

"I expect her to be _the _topmost priority besides defeating the Dark Lord if I am going to be providing you with further information," Draco continued, his voice laced with steel. This was something for which he was not willing to compromise.

"Of course," Dumbledore replied solemnly, bowing his head slightly in agreement. Draco took that as his cue to leave. Just before he closed the door, Draco took one last look over his shoulder and murmured in tones that he was sure the headmaster would just barely be able to hear:

"He wants me to kill you," and then he left.

**A/N: **oooooo, scary Draco! Lol… not really. Anywho our favorite blond bombshell has arrived! (well mine at least ^_^) and he's ready to kick moldy wart's scaly arse (I would say "fanny" as in how we Americans term "fanny" but I decided I would rather not offend anyone (especially after spending so long with my overly sensitive Australian tour guide, I mean really? I asked him who he rooted for (as in the rugby match) and he got sooooooo offended! Lol note taken… Australians do not "root" they "barrack" (which is also really weird) and now I'm off on a tangent….. Point being I didn't want to offend anybody by saying "fanny," okay? And now on to the more important things!) THANK YOU CADENCE (by the way, I haven't heard from you in a while, wassup girl? Hit me up with an email sometime lol, don't be such a stranger :D) And also ANOTHER BIG THANK YOU TO MY REVIEWERS! And… I think that's it?

Studious (and annoying!) inner me: Aren't you forgetting something?

Me: huh? What? Oh! It's _you _studious inner voice! Long time no see girl, wassup?

SIM (studious inner me): -bangs head against wall- Just ask them to review already!

Me: Oh yeah! Thanks SIM, and hey! Where were you for finals! OCD Me and ADHD Me were being SOOOO distracting! I'm lucky I passed!

SIM: -whistles innocently- I was distracted…..

Me: -groans-

Please review?


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